The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) has updated the guideline that supports animal-raising or environment-related label claims on meat and poultry products, the first updates to the document in five years. According to the agency, the updates aim to help protect consumers from false and misleading product labeling, and promote competition in the industry.
Claims typically made and covered by the guideline include “raised without antibiotics,” “grass-fed,” “free-range,” “raised using regenerative agriculture practices,” and “climate-friendly,” for example. These are voluntary marketing claims for which processors must document to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) for review and approval.
The updated guideline strongly encourages the use of third-party certification to substantiate any animal-raising or environment-related claims, to help ensure animal welfare and environmental stewardship standards are truly being met. Additionally, processors will need to submit more robust documentation in support of these claims.
For products that claim they are “without antibiotics” or “no antibiotics ever,” FSIS now recommends that processors implement routine sampling and testing to detect antibiotic use in animals prior to slaughter or obtain third-party certification that includes testing. This change comes after FSIS, in conjunction with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), conducted sampling over the last year of cattle destined for products claiming to be “raised without antibiotics,” and found antibiotic residues in approximately 20% of liver and kidney samples taken from 196 eligible cattle at 84 slaughter establishments in 34 states. ARS analyzed the samples using a method that targeted more than 180 veterinary drugs, including various major classes of antibiotics, USDA noted.
FSIS said it will take enforcement action against any establishments found to be making false or misleading negative antibiotic claims, and it has informed the establishments with positive results from the study above — advising them to conduct a root cause analysis and implement corrective actions.
A peer-reviewed paper with complete results from the study will be published in the near future, USDA said, but the results support the agency’s more rigorous approach to ensuring product claims in these areas are legitimately supported and standards are followed.
The updated guideline will be open for public comment for 60 days after publishing in the Federal Register.
