CSPI needs your help in our campaign to provide consumers with better nutritional labeling on ground beef. We need letters urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to require ground beef labels to meet the same regulations as other foods sold in supermarkets.

Approximately 400,000 Americans a year die prematurely as a result of an unhealthy diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Fat and artery-clogging saturated fat are two of the main culprits. Ground beef adds more fat to the average American's diet than any other single food. Yet in many supermarkets, ground beef labels make health and nutrition claims that wouldn't be allowed on most other foods. For example:

• "Lean" claims. The USDA allows no more than 10 percent fat by weight in most foods that are labeled "lean." But the USDA allows ground beef that is up to 22.5 percent fat to be called "lean." For example: Albertson's, a supermarket chain with stores in 19 states, sells "lean" ground beef that is 20 percent fat.

• "Percent lean" claims. The USDA ordinarily allows claims like "85 percent lean" only on foods that are "low-fat" (no more than three grams of fat per serving). But the USDA allows "percent lean" claims on ground beef no matter how fatty the meat is. For example: at Kroger, the country's largest supermarket chain, the ground round is labeled "85 percent lean," even though a serving contains up to 14 grams of fat.

• "Nutrition Facts" labels. Unlike most foods in the supermarket, ground beef labels are allowed to make nutrient claims without putting "Nutrition Facts" on the package. For example: at supermarkets like Stop & Shop (in four states including New York), Cub Foods (in 12 states including Illinois), Lucky (in California and Nevada), Dominick's (in Illinois and Indiana), Shop Rite (in Pennsylvania), and H.E.B. (in Texas), ground beef labels list the percent fat or the percent lean, but include no other nutrition information.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Write the USDA today and urge it to close the ground beef labeling loophole. CSPI is urging the USDA to ban deceptive "percent lean" claims, require ground beef to meet the same definition of "lean" as other foods, and require ground beef that makes fat or lean claims to carry complete "Nutrition Facts" labels.

Attached is a fact sheet that includes some key points to make in your letter. The USDA may make a decision on ground beef labeling sometime this summer, so write your letter today. Send it to:

Thanks for your interest and help with this important nutrition issue. You can find more information on ground beef labeling in the June issue of the Nutrition Action Healthletter or you can also give us a call at 202/332-9110, ext. 331.

Sincerely,

Margo Wootan
Senior Scientist