The USDA has released new guidance for food companies that make animal-raising and climate claims about their food. This updated guideline makes recommendations to strengthen the documentation supporting animal-raising or environment-related claims on meat or poultry product labeling.

The new action builds on USDA’s work to protect consumers from false and misleading labels and to implement President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American economy.

“USDA continues to deliver on its commitment to fairness and choice for both farmers and consumers, which means supporting transparency and high-quality standards,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “These updates will help to level the playing field for businesses who are truthfully using these claims and ensure people can trust the labels when they purchase meat and poultry products.”

Not everyone agrees, however.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) petitioned the USDA to prohibit misleading climate claims on beef, including “climate-friendly” claims for Tyson’s Brazen Beef. Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs, said the USDA’s announcement “is a shot across the bow to the food companies making climate claims on food.”

“Lost amid all the government jargon is a simple message to food companies: Back it up. If food companies are going to tell consumers that certain food items are better for the climate, companies had better be able to show us the receipts,” Faber added.

He said “the USDA has put the burden squarely on food companies to demonstrate that their claims like ‘climate friendly’ pass the smell test.”

According to USDA, animal-raising claims, such as “Raised Without Antibiotics,” “Grass-Fed” and “Free-Range,” and environment-related claims, such as “Raised using Regenerative Agriculture Practices” and “Climate-Friendly,” are voluntary marketing claims that highlight certain aspects of how the source animals for meat and poultry products are raised or how the producer maintains or improves the land or otherwise implements environmentally sustainable practices.

 Documentation submitted by companies to support these claims is reviewed by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the claims can only be included on the labels of meat and poultry products sold to consumers after the agency approves them.

FSIS last updated its guidelines on these claims in 2019.

Also, In response to the announcement by the USDA of updated guidelines on animal-raising and environment-related claims on meat and poultry labels, Zack Strong, acting director and senior attorney for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Farmed Animal Program, said: “The USDA’s updated guidelines are largely meaningless in effecting real change. To protect farmers, animals, consumers, and small businesses from deceptive labeling and unfair competition, the department must require — not merely encourage — third-party certification of animal welfare claims.”

“While the revised guidelines are a small step in the right direction, they remain insufficient to combat misleading label claims used to market meat and poultry products,” Strong added. “When consumers see claims such as ‘humanely raised,’ they expect that the animals involved received better care than the industry status quo. The USDA continues to allow companies to make up their definitions with no repercussions essentially.”

In the updated guideline, FSIS strongly encourages third-party certification to substantiate animal-raising or environment-related claims. Third-party certification helps ensure that such claims are truthful and not misleading by having an independent organization verify that their standards for animal raising and environmental stewardship are being met on the farm. The revised guideline also emphasizes more robust documentation for environment-related and animal-raising claims.

Additionally, the updated guideline recommends that establishments using “negative” antibiotic claims such as “Raised Without Antibiotics” or “No Antibiotics Ever,” implement routine sampling and testing programs to detect antibiotic use in animals before slaughter or obtain third-party certification that includes testing. The revisions were informed by sampling data, petitions, public comments on those petitions, and feedback from various stakeholders.

 FSIS will take enforcement action against any establishments making false or misleading adverse antibiotic claims. 

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