USDA has tightened its guidance on validating animal-raising and environment-related claims on meat and poultry labeling in response to criticism that companies were making claims without backing them up.
The update encourages the use of third-party certification and greater documentation to substantiate some of these claims, such as "grass-fed," "free-range," "climate-friendly" and "raised using regenerative agriculture practices."
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service reviews the documentation submitted by companies for these claims. The labels can only be used on consumer products if approved by the agency.
Animal welfare advocates criticized the new guidance, arguing it does not go far enough in ensuring the accuracy of these claims.
“The USDA’s updated guidelines are largely meaningless in effecting real change,” Zack Strong, acting director and senior attorney for the Animal Welfare Institute’s Farmed Animal Program, said in a statement.
He said FSIS must require rather than encourage third-party certification of animal welfare claims to protect against deceptive labeling and unfair competition.
The Environmental Working Group, which petitioned the agency to prohibit misleading climate claims on beef, said the new guidance puts the burden on food companies to demonstrate that their claims “pass the smell test.”
“Today’s announcement by the USDA is a shot across the bow to the food companies making climate claims on food,” said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs, in a statement. “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.”
FSIS last updated this guidance in 2019 and reopened this process after receiving multiple requests.
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A 2022 study by the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University and Food ID found that a “substantial portion” of cattle marketed as raised without antibiotics actually had traces of these drugs.
In 2023, FSIS partnered with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service to conduct its own sampling. It found that about 20% of tested cattle from the "raised without antibiotics" market contained residues of antibiotics.
As a result of these studies and public comments, USDA’s latest guidance recommends producers claiming their meat comes from animals raised without antibiotics or no antibiotics at all, implement routine sampling and testing before slaughter, or obtain third-party certification that involves testing.
Following the 2023 study, FSIS informed the establishments with cattle that tested positive for antibiotics, advised them to determine the root cause of how the antibiotics were introduced and implement corrective action.
FSIS and ARS will publish a paper with the complete results of this study in the “near future,” according to a USDA press release.
The agency may consider additional actions in the future to ensure products with antibiotic labels are being marketed accurately. These could include random sampling and rulemaking, according to the release.
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