USDA has been a worry for the beef industry in 2023, such as possibly throwing down mandates on fed cattle marketing. Here comes another one. USDA has issued a proposed labeling change that they think will give consumers more information. But because the billions of pounds of beef that go through retail establishments each year aren’t like other products, the opposite could happen.
The rule would keep a “Product of USA” label on beef voluntary, but if the package were to carry that label, the packer and the retailer would have to be sure the critter that piece of beef came from was 1) born, 2) raised, 3) slaughtered and 4) processed in the U.S.
The rule doesn’t even mention the “fed” segment of the production chain.
The purpose of this rule is supposed to be giving consumers more accurate information as to the origin of the product. But since over 90% of the muscle cuts they see in the store are born, raised, fed and slaughtered in the U.S., they are already getting what they assume to be true nearly always.
Many consumers assume that “Product of USA” is an indication of quality. It really is not. The quality grades Choice or Prime does that. “Product of USA” does not. It implies safety, wholesomeness and quality. The inspection stamp guarantees safety. Consumers assume their retailer has chosen to present a product that is safe to eat. They also assume that their retailer is presenting a quality product. They tend to mentally conflate the two.
In reality, USDA might be inadvertently removing some of that confusion and conflation. Because, as a matter of overwhelming practicality and cost, packers and retailers will be forced to drop the “Product of USA” label entirely. Because beef is not a manufactured product—assembled from parts bins marked with the global source—there is no reasonably affordable way to guarantee where a particular piece of beef in the case came from; e.g. the U.S. or Canada. The odds are about 92 to 8, according to statistics. But retail beef labeling doesn’t work that way. The retailer—and back one step to the packer—has to be able to state unequivocally that anything on the label is 100% accurate. Having a label that is not correct can shut your meat case down instantly.
So what is likely is most of the beef in any major retailer’s beef case would no longer be labeled “Product of USA.” Retailers and packers can’t afford to guarantee it under our mainstream system, and they can’t make a mistake.
That label would only be there if it comes from a defined, source-verified program that tracks cattle from birth to harvest and has the ID and records to prove it. Years ago, that option would not have been available, except from a local producer and locker plant. Today, they can have more options if the quality suits them and they can afford it.
Ironically, the same fringe that opposes individual animal ID that would go part way to making such a program doable at more reasonable prices, are the same folks that say they want birth-to-harvest product labeling possible, like under this labeling regulation. Of course, they ultimately want it to further their anti-trade agenda. They want to enable mandatory country-of-origin labeling as a tool to keep out beef and cattle from other countries.
We were in one of the big plants recently. They can track carcasses pretty well with tags and sorts. But that is not the same as tracking every piece of beef from an entire carcass. We forget exactly how much, but there are over 600 pieces of beef from each carcass. Tracking every piece would be mind-boggling.
If there is a problem, it is consumer confusion as to what’s quality and what’s inspection. All the beef in their meat case has been USDA inspected or inspected under USDA standards. Doesn’t matter whether it was born here, Canada or Mexico. If it’s presented for sale here, it was USDA inspected and is safe.
That confusion of quality and inspection is what many of the “Product of the USA” label proponents want to exploit. They want consumers to think only American-born, raised, fed and processed beef is safe. It is part of their goal of keeping cattle prices up, not by continually improving animal health, performance and carcass quality, but by keeping any competition, no matter how small a percentage, out of the country.
This proposed rule is coming from USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the inspection agency, not USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, the beef grading agency. — Steve Dittmer, WLJ columnist
(Steve Dittmer is the author of the Agribusiness Freedom Foundation newsletter. Views in the column do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of WLJ or its editorial staff.)
