Supermarket Perimeter - December 2021 - 38

Meat & Poultry
Labeling
BY ANDY NELSON
NEW LEGISLATION AND CONSUMER DEMAND FOR
TRANSPARENCY have made labeling of fresh meat sold at grocery
retail more important than ever.
Toledo, Ohio-based Bollin Label Systems offers a variety of labeling
solutions for retail meat departments, including nutritional meat grind
labels, safe handling, weigh scale labels, custom meat labels, USDA and
FDA meat labels, meat inserts, meat cuts and corner ribbons, country
of origin labels and promotional labels for beef, pork, poultry, veal, lamb
and seafood items.
Over the years, Bollin's portfolio has expanded to meet the demands
of the customer as both technology and labeling laws have changed,
said Helen Darrah, the company's executive director of sales and
marketing.
" Improvements in packaging over the years have challenged us to
source a wide variety of paper stocks with adhesives to meet industry
guidelines set forth by the USDA and FDA, " she said. " It has also forced
us to look at what items we will stock as standard items on our shelves
that most customers would have to special order from other sources. "
Label items like nutritional grinds and weigh scale labels with
the proper safe handling instructions, for example, are important to
have readily available to customers at a moment's notice, she added.
Expanding its offering to include USDA grade labels has been very
important to Bollin over the years.
Bollin also offers a comprehensive range of proven retail ready meat
labelling solutions for flexible, rigid, and semi rigid case ready pack
formats. The company's product portfolio has been designed, Darrah
38 - DECEMBER 2021
said, to meet the challenges of cold chain distribution and has been
proven across a wide range of pack formats including vacuum, shrink,
stretch film and overwrap.
" Our labels use high-quality materials to ensure the label is not
compromised by moisture or scuffing through the supply chain, " she said.
" They offer excellent variable data printing and Grade A barcodes that
can be applied at high speed. Combined with vibrant, excellent quality
printing this results in a premium looking label at the point of sale. "
In the United States, labeling of meat and poultry products is
closely regulated by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has
strict rules regarding the content and appearance of meat or poultry
product labels.
The rules include everything from dating and safe handling
instructions to how large a font must be. Such strict labeling
requirements, Darrah said, protect consumers by providing them with
the knowledge needed to make informed purchasing decisions.
" Today's consumer is more concerned than ever as to where their
food is coming from. Bollin strives to help our customers develop
and design eye catching labels for retail sale, keeping in mind all the
regulatory requirements that must be met. "
The more the company stays on top of these requirements, she
added, the more value it can provide to the customers with whom it's
built long trusting relationships.
The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA), which amended
the FD&C Act, requires that most foods bear nutrition labeling. It also
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Supermarket Perimeter - December 2021

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