WASHINGTON — Public comments on the proposed rule, "Nutrition Labeling of Single-Ingredient Products and Ground or Chopped Meat and Poultry Products" will be solicited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The rule is designed to help families make more informed decisions when purchasing and consuming meat and poultry products by requiring nutrition labeling of major cuts of single-ingredient, raw meat and poultry products.

F.S.I.S. published a proposed rule in the Federal Register entitled, "Nutrition Labeling of Ground or Chopped Meat and Poultry Products and Single-Ingredient Products" (66 FR 4969) on Jan. 18, 2001. Because of the length of time since the publication of the proposed rule, F.S.I.S. is providing the public an opportunity to comment on this supplemental proposed rule.

Comments on relevant issues for which there is new evidence since the proposed rule was issued will also be welcomed by the agency.