Can you trust a food label? When it comes to food safety and nutrition, the USDA and FDA have made great strides in ensuring food that we put in our cart is safe to eat and shows clearly what is included inside the package. However, food origin and how the food made its way from soil to the supermarket is unfortunately not as standardized.
In a 2021 study conducted by the USDA, 84% of consumers did not know or assumed incorrectly what the correct definition for a “Product of USA” claim on meat packaging meant.
They assumed that the product must come from animals born, raised and processed in the USA. Sadly, this is not the case. Today, the packaging can claim “Made in the USA ” regardless of country of origin as long as processing occurred domestically.
It has taken two years but the USDA has proposed a rule that allows the voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim to be used on meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.
However, this option is voluntary and packaging can simply leave country of origin off of the label, leaving consumers in the dark as to where the cattle their beef came from was born.
Organizations like American Grassfed Association believe a voluntary rule is not enough and the USDA should rewind some undoing they approved in 2015. The Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for beef and pork, required meat and meat products to disclose the country where the animals were born, raised, and slaughtered. In 2015, Congress directed the USDA to roll back this law for beef and pork, allowing these products to be sold without country designation on the label. Currently, MCOOL only covers lamb, chicken, and other food commodities.
Learn more about the proposed new requirements here and access the public comment forum through May 2023.
NOTES/RESOURCES
About 16% of eligible consumers identified the correct definition for the “Product of USA” claim (i.e., the product must be processed in the United States; the animals can be born, raised, and slaughtered in another country), 63% provided an incorrect response (most believed all production steps must take place in the United States), and 21% said they did not know the proposed rule allows the voluntary “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim to be used on meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.
In July 2021, USDA initiated a comprehensive review to understand what the “Product of USA” claim means to consumers and inform planned rulemaking to define the requirements for making such a claim. As part of its review, USDA commissioned a nationwide consumer survey. The survey revealed that the current “Product of USA” labeling claim is misleading to a majority of consumers surveyed, with a significant portion believing the claim means that the product was made from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.
BUT it is voluntary. While the proposed rule is a step in the right direction, American Grassfed Association believes Congress must act to restore Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (MCOOL) for beef and pork, requiring meat and meat products to disclose the country where the animals were born, raised, and slaughtered. Currently, MCOOL only covers lamb, chicken, and other food commodities, and in 2015, Congress directed the USDA to roll back this law for beef and pork, allowing these products to be sold without country designation on the label.
USDA encourages stakeholders, both domestic and international, to comment on the proposed rule. The proposed rule will be open for public comment for 60 days after publishing in the Federal Register. Public comments can be submitted at www.regulations.gov.
A new proposed rule from the USDA would limit “Product of USA” labels on meat, poultry and egg products to items derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States — which has always been the case at American Farmers Network.
USDA said the new definition would end consumer confusion over where food comes from. Currently, any product processed in the United States — even from meat raised elsewhere and imported to the U.S. for processing and slaughter, or imported and repackaged in the United States — can be labeled “Product of USA.”
This is one of several long-pending food labeling clarifications that has come out from the federal government in the last several months. This and other regulations are intended to increase consumer knowledge and information.
