Definitions and Standards of Identity or Composition: Elimination of the Pizza with Meat or Sausage Standards

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is rescinding the regulatory standards of identity for "pizza with meat" and "pizza with sausage." FSIS has determined that the standards no longer serve their original purpose of protecting the public from economic deception. Furthermore, FSIS believes that the standards may be inhibiting manufacturers of federally inspected pizzas from producing and marketing the styles of pizzas that today's consumers demand. Once this rule becomes effective, products may be identified with a common or usual name that includes the term "pizza;" identifies the meat or poultry component, e.g., "pepperoni;" and declares other components as a feature that distinguishes them from the other pizza product, e.g. "pizza--garlic sauce, tomatoes, reduced-fat cheese, and seasoned beef strips on a crust." FSIS is also amending the meat and poultry products inspection regulations to require, for a limited time, that the labels of products identified as meat or poultry pizzas in their common or usual names include the percent of meat or poultry in the product in a parenthetical statement that is contiguous to the ingredients statement. This labeling requirement will expire after three years. FSIS is adopting this requirement because, based on comments received in response to the proposed rule, the Agency has concluded that some consumers still rely on the standards to ensure that a product identified as a meat or poultry "pizza" contains a certain amount of meat or poultry. FSIS will allow pizza manufacturers to exhaust their remaining packaging inventory before they will be required to comply with the new labeling requirement. Requiring percent labeling of the meat or poultry content of non-standardized pizzas for a limited time is a transitional step to allow these consumers to understand the nature of the food.