New Food Labels Follow Meat Over Borders

The Obama administration is working to close what it considers a loophole in food labeling rules to give consumers a better idea of where their food comes from. New labeling regulations were originally announced under Bush, but the former president's version didn't require meat companies to name an animal's production location -- specifically, where it was born, raised and slaughtered.

To tighten the law, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is asking the meat industry to voluntarily comply with a new rule that names each of those locations on the package label. So if a calf was born and raised in Mexico -- but slaughtered over the border in a Texas meat plant -- the label must say so.

The rules take effect next Monday. Even though the rule is considered voluntary, Vilsack warned in a letter to the meat industry that if they don't comply, he'll take it to Congress. The regulation requires the labels for muscle cuts, ground beef (including veal), pork, lamb, goat, and chicken. It also applies to wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, as well other commodities like fruits and vegetables.

The effort has angered both Canada and Mexico, which have protested the labeling in a complaint to the World Trade Organization. Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said that the voluntary labeling is causing uncertainty and concern for livestock industries across the border.

Not all American farmers are giving the new rule a ringing endorsement, either. The American Meat Institute told Pork Magazine that individual meat companies can decide themselves if they want to comply "to the extent that [they] are able and elect to go beyond these federal labeling requirements."