USDA To Meat Cos.: Give Shoppers More Details

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

Labels Would Show Where Animals Born, Raised, Slaughtered

POSTED: 7:59 pm EST February 20, 2009

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration has asked the meat industry to voluntarily give the public more information about where their food comes from.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told consumer groups, farm groups and meat industry leaders earlier this week that the administration would call for stricter labels on fresh meat and other foods that would show where an animal was born, raised and slaughtered.

The action comes after Obama returned from Canada, which has joined Mexico in protesting the so-called "country of origin" labels in a complaint to the World Trade Organization. The Agriculture Department abruptly canceled a scheduled announcement of the decision Wednesday morning, with little explanation, a day before Obama's trip.

The department announced the changes Friday afternoon, after Obama's return, and Vilsack sent a letter to the meat industry detailing the requests.

"The Department of Agriculture will be closely reviewing industry compliance," Vilsack said in the letter, dated Friday.

In calling for the stricter guidelines, the Obama administration is breaking from rules announced by the department shortly before President George W. Bush left office. The labeling law was enacted in a wide-ranging farm bill last year, but much of it was left up to interpretation by the Department of Agriculture.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/18763432/detail.html

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Because country of origin labels are so bad for business...

not.

[Metta]

2. Voluntary? This will go nowhere. Transparency leads to responsibility.

Don't make me laugh. Industry couldn't care less until they're caught.

[Tashca]

3. This article is abit deceptive

They make this sound like this is all about Canadian meat. As a consumer I would have no problem picking up a package of Canadian meat. But if it was Mexican or Argentinian or Chinese....I would have a problem with that.

This is a step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done. A good portion of prepared food that includes meat already comes from foreign sources.......This appears to not impact processed food or fast food.
I would guess most all imported meat will be then processed and the American meat put on the shelf.
Meat packers DO NOT want you to know where your food is coming from.

[D-Lee]

4. Neither Canada nor Europe are problem food sources

The more people know about the problems, the more likely they would buy from Canadian and European sources. They are against genetically modified foods, among other things. Canadian cosmetics are great for purity, too!

But, I really, really want to know what contains stuff from China!

There is a lot more support for this concept that described here so far.

So, I don't see a good reason to be so negative ....

[DBoon]

5. I would buy from Canada before I'd buy from the US

nt