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Change Your Life! |
Clinton proposes nutritional labels for meat, poultry |
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News |
May 29, 2000 WASHINGTON, MAY 28 (AP) - Whether it's a box of cereal or a package of hamburger meat, American consumers should have easy access to nutritional information, President Bill Clinton said Saturday. He proposed that the government require labels on beef and poultry for the first time.
Nutritional labels, required for processed food since 1994, tell shoppers just how much fat, cholesterol, calories and nutrients are in each serving.
"Providing citizens with accurate information that affects their lives is one of government's most vital responsibilities," Clinton said Saturday in his weekly radio address.
Clinton also released updated nutritional guidelines that advise more exercise, safe handling of food and moderated sugar consumption. They also suggest that Americans pay attention tonutritional labels.
About six in 10 supermarkets post nutrition information near their meat cases, and some major meatpackers and poultry companies voluntarily put nutrition labels on packages.
Now, Clinton said, "It's time we made it mandatory." "We wholeheartedly believe in the consumers being informed," said Mary Young, a nutritionist with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.
The Agriculture Department will gather comments about the proposal, which could take effect by the end of the year but may stretch into 2001.
It's the latest in a series of food safety and nutrition initiatives from the administration. This month Clinton ordered new testing requirements for listeria, a pathogen in processed meats.
The Food and Drug Administration has proposed expanding nutrition labels on processed foods to include artery-clogging trans fatty acids, a common ingredient in baked goods.
The government's new dietary guidelines for Americans, also released Saturday, are revised every five years to reflect new scientific research.
The 2000 version takes an upbeat approach - "Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures," it says - and adds sections emphasizing the importance of whole grains, exercise and safe handling of food.
Today, Americans make better choices about healthy eating, Clinton said.
"Yet despite this progress, the vast majority of Americans don't have healthy diets," the president said. "We're eating more fast food because of our hectic schedules, and we're less physically active because of our growing reliance on modern conveniences, from cars to computers to remote controls."
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