FOR YOUR INFORMATION...............December 20, 1990



     The Federal Trade Commission staff has submitted comments to
the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service
(FSIS), suggesting methods the FSIS could use to determine whether
it needs new regulations for the labeling or packaging of certain
perishable meat and poultry products.

     In an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, the FSIS solic-
ited comments on whether it should propose new regulations regard-
ing chilled, ready-to-eat, perishable meat and poultry products
which are packaged in a variety of sealed containers bearing label
statements such as "Perishable, Keep Refrigerated."  The FSIS pro-
posal is in response to safety concerns that consumers may fail to
treat the products properly, such as storing them at room tempera-
ture instead of refrigerating them.  The FSIS has proposed either
requiring label warnings or banning the use of certain packaging
to address these concerns. 

     According to the FTC staff comment, signed by C. Steven Baker,
Director of the FTC's Chicago Regional Office, the staff shares
FSIS's concern about potential health risks consumers may face from
chilled perishable meat and poultry products.  Before proposing any
new regulations, however, the staff comment says, the FSIS should
first consider market and consumer survey information to determine
what information consumers currently receive concerning the proper
handling of these products.  This would provide a basis for decid-
ing whether additional steps are needed to ensure that consumers
are provided with adequate information on how to handle and store
chilled meat and poultry products of this type.

     The FSIS should not ban the use of certain packaging, the FTC
staff said, unless it has evidence that the packaging material it-
self is a major cause of consumer misunderstanding, and that re-
vised labeling disclosures alone are insufficient or more costly
than packaging bans.  "The staff's concern is that if categories
of packaging are banned without support of this type, sellers might
be forced to forego packaging options that are more efficient than
the alternatives that remain available to them.  This in turn could
result in consumers paying higher prices for these product without
receiving compensating benefits since equally high safety levels
presumably could be achieved through the alternative of labeling
disclosures."

     The comment reflects the views of the staff of the FTC's
Chicago Regional Office, Bureau of Consumer Protection and Bureau
of Economics.  They are not necessarily the views of the Commission
or any individual Commissioner.

     Copies of the comment are available from the FTC's Public
Reference Branch, Room 130, 6th St. and Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20580; 202-326-2222; TTY 202-326-2502.

                              # # #

MEDIA CONTACT:      Susan Ticknor, Office of Public Affairs,
                    202-326-2181

STAFF CONTACT:      C. Steven Baker, Chicago Regional Office,
                    312-353-8156

(FSIS2)

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