Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA) (21 U.S.C. 601-695, at 607), the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) (21 U.S.C. 451-470, at 457), and the Egg Products Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1031-1056, at 1036) (the Acts), the labels of meat, poultry, and egg products must be approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, who has delegated this authority to FSIS, before these products can enter commerce. The Acts prohibit the sale or offer for sale by any person, firm, or corporation of any article in commerce under any name or other marking or labeling that is false or misleading or in any container of a misleading form or size (21 U.S.C. 607(d); 21 U.S.C. 457(c)). The Acts also prohibit the distribution in commerce of meat or poultry products that are adulterated or misbranded. The FMIA and PPIA give FSIS broad authority to promulgate such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of the Acts (21 U.S.C. 621 and 463(b)).

To prevent meat and poultry products from being misbranded, the meat and poultry product inspection regulations require that the labels of meat and poultry products include specific information, such as nutrition labels, and that such information be displayed as prescribed in the regulations (9 CFR parts 317 and 381). The nutrition labeling requirements for meat and meat food products are in 9 CFR 317.300-317.400, and the nutrition labeling requirements for poultry products are in 9 CFR 381.400-381.500.