US implements COOL food labeling

by Terri Potratz | September 15, 2008 at 12:43 pm

1465 views | 22 Recommendations | 15 comments

The US has finally implemented a law that requires country-of-origin labeling on meat, fish, poultry, produce and peanuts as of September 30, 2008.

On May 13, 2002, the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002, more commonly known as the 2002 Farm Bill, became law. One of its many provisions requires country of origin labeling (COOL) for beef, lamb, pork, fish, perishable agricultural commodities, and peanuts. On January 27, 2004, Public Law 108-199 delayed implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2006. On November 10, 2005, Public Law 109-97 delayed implementation of mandatory COOL for all covered commodities except wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish until September 30, 2008. As described in the legislation, program implementation is the responsibility of USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. The recently enacted Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill) expands the list of covered commodities to include chicken, goat meat, ginseng, pecans and macadamia nuts.

The law was initially passed by Congress in 2002 but buckled under extreme pressure from the meat industry and the USDA:

Many in the meat industry, these advocates say, have fought the new labeling law because they don't want consumers to know that they're buying imported hamburger and beef cuts. The USDA also stood against COOL, according to Lloyd Day, head of the agency's Agricultural Marketing Service, because of its projected impact on consumers and its estimated cost to the food industry: $2.5 billion in the first year.

There are some major loopholes in the new legislation - since the labeling codes exclude processed foods, there is a lot of grey area. Just what exactly constitutes "processed" food?

"It's considered processed if it's combined with one other ingredient," said Patty Lovera, assistant director of Food & Water Watch, a non-profit consumer rights organization. "We think they're being incredibly broad."

In this case, if a product raised outside of the US is imported and then mixed together (let's say nuts, for example), it is considered processed and not required to bear the COOL label.

Furthermore, there is a major loophole for those in the meat industry:

Meat derived from cattle imported into the U.S. for immediate slaughter can bear a label that states it's a product of its origin country and the United States, even though the animal was raised entirely outside the U.S.

Because of the numerous holes in the legislation as it now stands, there are concerns around safety and intentional mislabeling of consumer products - especially with the recent strings of food-borne illnesses, many of which have resulted in preventable deaths.

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mrdodgy

at 17:37 on September 15th, 2008

T-shirts for San Francisco independent punk band 'The Meat Sluts' with their somewhat innovative packaging.

mrdodgy has contributed a photo to this story.

trailerparkbarbie

at 17:56 on September 15th, 2008

My daughter who loves to shock me actually gave me this pack of meat for Christmas last year!

trailerparkbarbie has contributed a photo to this story.

iwanwilaga

at 19:16 on September 15th, 2008

Does perfect solution exists anyway ?!..Maybe we all should start saving up money for personal micro-farms. %)

Jamdin

at 21:08 on September 15th, 2008

About time that country-of-origin labeling be required. I want to know if my produce is home grown or not.

Jamdin has contributed a photo to this story.

Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 21:33 on September 15th, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

What would be far more important then Country of Origin Labels is contend of the Product and process.

Meaning what Chemical have been used and are fund in the product, Is it GMO or non GMO, is it Organic at 100% or just label Organic as North American Law requires needing only 15% to 85% or Organic matter in order to be allowed to call it self Organic, this varies with from State to state and Province to Province though.

What agent are used and what are the long and short term health risk of the Chemicals used in Growing, processing and packaging the Food sold? All this should be on a label and nothing less. The EU has most of that on Labels by law.

Mystic Sands

at 04:14 on September 16th, 2008

Known as piments d'Espelette, those spices were shown at a local state fair, called Fêtes des Plantes in Brittany, the northwestern part of France.
The European community is also passing laws requiring country-origin labeling. French stores already show the origin of their meat (mandatory), vegetables and fruits on their stands.
©Mystic.Sands

Mystic Sands has contributed a photo to this story.

ericajloh

at 10:20 on September 16th, 2008

This photo of dog food was taken at a Sainsburys in London, England.

ericajloh has contributed a photo to this story.

Terss

at 11:18 on September 16th, 2008

technically, i don't think my photo really applies to the article since it was a Japanese product and bought in Japan (this photo was taken while i was flying from Shikoku to Sapporo), but i'm encouraged by the implementation of COOL and think food labeling (both ingredients and country-of-origin) is very important.

Japan doesn't have the same label requirements as the U.S. and friends of mine with food allergies had to be extremely cautious with packaged foods and snacks.

Terss has contributed a photo to this story.

mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:04 on September 23rd, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

I can't believe you don't already have this kind of labelling. It's been mandatory in the UK for a good few years. The idea that it has a negative impact on the agricultural economy is just baloney, as it forces consumers to think about where their produce is coming from and actually strengthens sales of local foods.

AlohaMamma

at 20:26 on September 25th, 2008

The prices on the variety of meats is expensive, twice than American prices! This photo is taken at Makoto Market in south Osaka, Japan.

AlohaMamma has contributed a photo to this story.

panzerlawyer

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 19:07 on September 29th, 2008

Terri Potratz, I like this story. It's good stuff.

philipbahr

at 06:44 on October 8th, 2008

I've always loved the classic/old-fashioned labeling of the local food products produced in eastern Pennsylvania where I grew up. I took this photo at the Allentown Farmer's Market. They have a grocery store within the market and I loved the look of these labels all together.

philipbahr has contributed a photo to this story.