COOL ‘Loophole’ Worries Farm Groups

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s use of a new country-of-origin food-labeling law is being protested by farm groups that claim it has loopholes that could confuse consumers about the origin of meat products they purchase, according to The Associated Press. The new law goes into effect on Sept. 30.

According to National Farmers Union President Tom Buis and other farm groups, U.S.D.A. has written the law — which passed with widespread support in the federal farm bill earlier this year — in a way that will allow meatpackers to avoid labeling packages of meat as exclusively U.S. products.

Opponents have said the tracking and the paperwork needed to comply with the law would be burdensome and lead to higher prices. They agreed, however, to a compromise that ended up in this year's farm law. The compromise laid out different types of labels, including one that would tag meat from animals that are born, raised and slaughtered in the United States as products of this country. Another label would spell out multiple countries of origin, such as "Product of U.S., Mexico and Canada."

As written, the new law would allow meatpackers to label all products as originating from outside the U.S., which undermines the intention of the regulation, according to C.O.O.L. advocates.

Source: MeatPoultry.com