USDA Updates Guideline for Animal-Raising and Environmental Claims on Meat Labels

USDA announced on Aug. 28 the availability of an updated guideline that makes recommendations to strengthen the documentation that supports animal-raising or environment-related claims on meat or poultry product labeling. This action builds on the work USDA has already undertaken to protect consumers from false and misleading labels and to implement President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American economy, USDA said in a release.

“USDA continues to deliver on its commitment to fairness and choice for both farmers and consumers, and that means supporting transparency and high-quality standards,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a release. “These updates will help to level the playing field for businesses who are truthfully using these claims and ensure people can trust the labels when they purchase meat and poultry products.”

USDA explains that animal-raising claims, such as “Raised Without Antibiotics,” “Grass-Fed” and “Free-Range,” and environment-related claims, such as “Raised using Regenerative Agriculture Practices” and “Climate-Friendly,” are voluntary marketing claims that highlight certain aspects of how the source animals for meat and poultry products are raised or how the producer maintains or improves the land or otherwise implements environmentally sustainable practices.

Documentation submitted by companies to support these claims is reviewed by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the claims can only be included on the labels of meat and poultry products sold to consumers after they are approved by the agency. FSIS previously updated its guideline on these claims in 2019.

In the updated guideline, FSIS strongly encourages the use of third-party certification to substantiate animal-raising or environment-related claims.

"Third-party certification of animal-raising or environment-related claims helps ensure that such claims are truthful and not misleading by having an independent organization verify that their standards are being met on the farm for the raising of animals and for environmental stewardship. The revised guideline also emphasizes more robust documentation for environment-related and animal-raising claims," USDA wrote.