In response to a petition submitted by the Meat Institute (formerly the North American Meat Institute, or NAMI), the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) has deleted the Moisture Protein Ratio (MPR) reference from the “Jerky” entry in the Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book.

The Policy Book is intended to provide policy guidance and help with consistency in labeling decisions, not to establish regulatory requirements.

According to the petition, MPR was historically used instead of water activity (A_w) to determine shelf stability of dried products. The petition argued that because MPR is scientifically unsupported as a measure of shelf stability and has no role in determining food safety, its inclusion in the Policy Book is outdated and confusing, as it may be mistakenly interpreted as a requirement for shelf stability.

In support of its argument, the Meat Institute cited FSIS guidelines that explain that shelf stability and food safety depend on validated lethality and drying processes that together control for A_w, which do not reference MPR as relevant to shelf stability or food safety. The Meat Institute also noted that FSIS has not promulgated a regulatory standard of identity for jerky, making the continued reference to the MPR in the Policy Book unnecessary.

USDA-FSIS decided to grant the petition, agreeing that, while jerky is a shelf-stable product, the MPR reference in the “Jerky” entry is outdated and not necessary to ensure food safety.