The group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, has argued for years for a change in the labels. It timed its new request to coincide with the start of the summer cook-out season.
"No other food in the supermarket can make a claim like 80% lean," said Bonnie Liebman, director of nutrition for the group.
In a letter to USDA, CSPI said ground beef should carry the same "nutrition facts" label found on most foods. The labels give information on calories from fat and other nutrients and their portion of the recommended daily intake.
CSPI said terms such as "lean" on ground beef were misleading because the meat could be up to 22.5% fat and still qualify. In most cases, foods cannot contain more than 10% fat to be called "lean."
Instead of allowing descriptions such as 80% lean, it said ground beef should follow the labeling regimen for other foods. "You can call it reduced fat," Liebman said, when fat content was lower than standard but not low enough to be called lean.
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