Sadly, they are not delinquent. The FPLA does not apply to meat and poultry because they are under the jurisdiction of a different Federal agency.
I think it is a lame excuse, all net contents should be controlled in one place not divided over half a dozen different Federal agencies, but thew law contains several exemptions (alcohol, tobacco, seeds, herbicides and pesticides also are exempt because of the "another agency" issue) The USDA rules allow, but don't require, meat and poultry producers to show supplemental metric in addition to the required Customary net contents declaration (even for standard weight packages). Said another way, Congress is delinquent, not the producers. It is the (ill) informed opinion of Congress that you don't need metric net content information for meat, just (almost) everything else. ________________________________ From: Parker Willey Jr. <[email protected]> To: U.S. Metric Association <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, April 4, 2014 3:50 PM Subject: [USMA:53677] What To Tell Companies Deficient in Labeling in Metric Units Hi: On Aidells Chicken & Apple Smoked Chicken Sausage (and other products), they show on the line below: FULLY COOKED * KEEP REFRIGERATED * NET WT. 48OZ. (3 LBS.) The only place where there is any metric info is in the Nutrition Facts section on the back. Similarly, on Oscar Meyer Hot Dogs, and lunch meat, there is a similar labeling of weight in ounces only. There are also other brands of packaged meat in stores displaying legacy units only. If I write to Oscar Meyer, Aidells, and others about their labels missing metric units on the front of the package, is this a correct page to refer them to to show they are delinquent? I found this web page: PART 500—REGULATIONS UNDER SECTION 4 OF THE FAIR PACKAGING AND LABELING ACT http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=d46d8c24934536de0ef58344303bf174&rgn=div5&view=text&node=16:1.0.1.5.62&idno=16 Is there another page I should refer the reader of my email or letter to? Thank you. ..Parker
