Labels provide consumers with a wealth of information about meat and meat products.
In addition to identifying a product, labels are used to convey nutritional information, provide thawing, cooking and storage guidelines, and suggest menu ideas. Recent government regulations have standardized the format used to present nutritional composition of all food products, as well as safe handling recommendations on meat and meat products. In the past, it was estimated that more than 1,000 names were used to identify the approximately 300 fresh cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal offered for retail sale. Meat cuts were often given different names depending on the region, city or store where the meat was sold. The first part of the label identifies the meat as beef, pork, lamb or veal.