Washington The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of updated guidelines recommending enhanced documentation to support animal care and environmental claims made on meat and poultry product labels. Today's action builds on the important work USDA has already done to protect consumers from false and misleading labeling and implement President Biden's Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy.
“USDA continues to deliver on its promise to provide fairness and choice for farmers and consumers alike, and that means upholding transparency and high-quality standards,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “These updates will help level the playing field for companies that use these claims honestly and ensure people can trust the labels when buying meat and poultry products.”
Animal-raising claims, such as “raised without antibiotics,” “grass-fed,” and “free-range,” and environmental claims, such as “regeneratively raised” and “climate friendly,” are voluntary marketing claims that highlight certain aspects of how the animals from which meat and poultry products are produced are raised and how producers maintain or improve the land or implement environmentally sustainable practices. The documentation that companies submit to support these claims is reviewed by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and only after the agency's approval can the claims be included on the labels of meat and poultry products sold to consumers.
FSIS last updated its guidelines on these claims in 2019.
In the updated guidelines, FSIS strongly encourages the use of third-party certification to substantiate animal care and environmental claims. Third-party certification of animal care and environmental claims helps ensure that such claims are true and not misleading by having an independent organization verify that standards of animal care and environmental management are met on the farm. The revised guidelines also emphasize more robust documentation of environmental and animal care claims.
Additionally, the updated guidelines now recommend that facilities that make “antibiotic-negative” claims, such as “raised without antibiotics” or “never using antibiotics,” implement regular sampling and testing programs to detect antibiotic use in animals prior to slaughter or obtain third-party certification that includes testing. The revisions were made based on sampling data, petitions, public comments on those petitions, and feedback received from a wide range of stakeholders.
In light of concerns about negative claims about antibiotics, FSIS announced last year that it would partner with USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to conduct a study to evaluate the veracity of these claims. FSIS collected liver and kidney samples from 196 eligible cattle at 84 slaughter facilities in 34 states, and ARS analyzed the samples using methods that cover more than 180 veterinary drugs, including a range of major antibiotic classes. The study found antibiotic residues in approximately 20 percent of samples from the “antibiotic-free” market.
The steps FSIS is taking today by publishing this guidance address these concerning findings and make clear that FSIS will take enforcement action against facilities found to be making false or misleading negative claims about antibiotics. Additionally, FSIS has notified facilities with positive findings from ARS-FSIS investigations and advised them to conduct root cause analyses and implement corrective actions. FSIS has also advised these facilities to determine how antibiotics were introduced to animals and take appropriate steps to ensure future products are not misbranded. More details about the investigations are included in the Federal Register notice announcing the publication of the updated guidance.
FSIS and ARS plan to publish a peer-reviewed paper summarizing the full results of this study in the near future. The findings of this study highlight the need for more rigorous substantiation of such claims. The results of these samples may lead to additional testing by the agencies. FSIS has the authority to collect samples any time it believes a product is erroneously labeled with a claim covered in the guidance. Additionally, FSIS may consider additional future actions, such as random sampling or rulemaking, to further strengthen substantiation of animal husbandry and environmental-related claims.
USDA is committed to ongoing stakeholder engagement. Please see the Federal Register notice for more information. The updated guidelines will be available for public comment for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
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