Sandhusker
Well-known member
Consumers Deserve COOL More Than Ever
USDA Inspection Stamp Doesn’t Indicate Product of Domestic Origin
Billings, Mont. – No longer should Congress or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continue to postpone the implementation of Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), a law on the books since the 2002 Farm Bill was passed.
Thousands of U.S. hogs in six states were quarantined this week because they were fed imported feed ingredients contaminated with the chemical melamine, found in plastics and pesticides, which falsely boosts the protein ratio of feedstuffs. This raises the obvious question of how much imported meat is produced from foreign animals fed melamine, thus heightening the need for COOL so consumers, themselves, can determine where they want their food produced.
According to The Associated Press, China did not acknowledge until today that Chinese companies had indeed shipped wheat gluten and rice protein tainted with melamine to the United States. Dow Jones Newswires reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin to test imported ingredients in pet foods and livestock feed, as well as additives to human food, due to concerns that a wide variety of Chinese vegetable protein products may be contaminated with the harmful compound.
“Since 2002, big-money interests have been successful in getting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to postpone writing the rules to implement COOL for beef,” said R-CALF USA COOL Committee Chair Mike Schultz.
“It’s high time that Congress forced USDA to obey the law and implement COOL,” he continued. “Consumers have made it very clear they want to know where their food comes from. USDA once was known as the ‘people’s agency,’ but now it’s a revolving door for special- interest groups like the multinational packers. No federal agency should be able to pick and choose what laws it wants to enforce. We want COOL now.
“The big packers know labeling is important because they use name brands to promote their products,” Schultz said. “If they don’t think COOL is a good idea, they could at least mark imported beef as ‘generic.’ They know labels have value.”
Jerry Plowman, an R-CALF USA member from Iowa, said he understands that overseas it is common practice to feed melamine to livestock.
“Is there anything in the meat when it comes here to the U.S.,” he asked. “I don’t know, but I think COOL is a good thing. Somehow, we’ve got to make sure COOL gets implemented. Let’s face it. The big packers don’t want COOL. The packers are fighting very hard against COOL for a reason, and in my opinion, the reason is they don’t want the public to know they’re mixing meat.”
Fred Baker, an R-CALF USA member from Illinois, said that he has fielded numerous inquiries from the farming community about the hog quarantine situation.
“This is huge,” Baker said. “Everybody’s talking about this. People are concerned.”
U.S. government officials said today that all products from the two firms in China are being stopped as they arrive in the U.S. and are being examined and sampled. It is not yet known if melamine ingested by hogs would taint the meat that could be consumed by humans.
“While USDA continually works to relax our border protections, COOL would at least allow consumers to distinguish imported product from domestic product,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, who also pointed out that many consumers have the misperception that the USDA inspection sticker on products means that the item was produced right here in the United States.
“The USDA inspection sticker is placed on all products – imported or domestic – and some imported beef actually is marked with the USDA quality grade stamp,” Bullard explained. “COOL is an essential informational and educational tool for consumers who are particular about the food they feed their families.
“We now have a Congress that appears willing to implement COOL, but it won’t happen without a real fight because the meatpackers, processors and retailers who purchase lower-cost imported cattle and beef and then sell their imported product to unsuspecting consumers who think it was produced from U.S. cattle do not want to lose their ill-gained economic advantage in the U.S. beef market,” he noted.
On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, called for an audit of the nation's food safety system. In a letter to the USDA Inspector General and the Inspector General of Department of Health and Human Services – the two agencies charged with monitoring the nation's food and feed supply – Harkin requested the two offices combine efforts for this comprehensive evaluation.
Note: To view R-CALF USA’s 2007 Fact Sheet on COOL for Beef, visit the “Country of Origin Labeling” link at www.r-calfusa.com. To view Harkin’s letter, go to: http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=273076. Or, contact R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson at the e-mail address or phone number above.
USDA Inspection Stamp Doesn’t Indicate Product of Domestic Origin
Billings, Mont. – No longer should Congress or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) continue to postpone the implementation of Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL), a law on the books since the 2002 Farm Bill was passed.
Thousands of U.S. hogs in six states were quarantined this week because they were fed imported feed ingredients contaminated with the chemical melamine, found in plastics and pesticides, which falsely boosts the protein ratio of feedstuffs. This raises the obvious question of how much imported meat is produced from foreign animals fed melamine, thus heightening the need for COOL so consumers, themselves, can determine where they want their food produced.
According to The Associated Press, China did not acknowledge until today that Chinese companies had indeed shipped wheat gluten and rice protein tainted with melamine to the United States. Dow Jones Newswires reported that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin to test imported ingredients in pet foods and livestock feed, as well as additives to human food, due to concerns that a wide variety of Chinese vegetable protein products may be contaminated with the harmful compound.
“Since 2002, big-money interests have been successful in getting the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to postpone writing the rules to implement COOL for beef,” said R-CALF USA COOL Committee Chair Mike Schultz.
“It’s high time that Congress forced USDA to obey the law and implement COOL,” he continued. “Consumers have made it very clear they want to know where their food comes from. USDA once was known as the ‘people’s agency,’ but now it’s a revolving door for special- interest groups like the multinational packers. No federal agency should be able to pick and choose what laws it wants to enforce. We want COOL now.
“The big packers know labeling is important because they use name brands to promote their products,” Schultz said. “If they don’t think COOL is a good idea, they could at least mark imported beef as ‘generic.’ They know labels have value.”
Jerry Plowman, an R-CALF USA member from Iowa, said he understands that overseas it is common practice to feed melamine to livestock.
“Is there anything in the meat when it comes here to the U.S.,” he asked. “I don’t know, but I think COOL is a good thing. Somehow, we’ve got to make sure COOL gets implemented. Let’s face it. The big packers don’t want COOL. The packers are fighting very hard against COOL for a reason, and in my opinion, the reason is they don’t want the public to know they’re mixing meat.”
Fred Baker, an R-CALF USA member from Illinois, said that he has fielded numerous inquiries from the farming community about the hog quarantine situation.
“This is huge,” Baker said. “Everybody’s talking about this. People are concerned.”
U.S. government officials said today that all products from the two firms in China are being stopped as they arrive in the U.S. and are being examined and sampled. It is not yet known if melamine ingested by hogs would taint the meat that could be consumed by humans.
“While USDA continually works to relax our border protections, COOL would at least allow consumers to distinguish imported product from domestic product,” said R-CALF USA CEO Bill Bullard, who also pointed out that many consumers have the misperception that the USDA inspection sticker on products means that the item was produced right here in the United States.
“The USDA inspection sticker is placed on all products – imported or domestic – and some imported beef actually is marked with the USDA quality grade stamp,” Bullard explained. “COOL is an essential informational and educational tool for consumers who are particular about the food they feed their families.
“We now have a Congress that appears willing to implement COOL, but it won’t happen without a real fight because the meatpackers, processors and retailers who purchase lower-cost imported cattle and beef and then sell their imported product to unsuspecting consumers who think it was produced from U.S. cattle do not want to lose their ill-gained economic advantage in the U.S. beef market,” he noted.
On Wednesday, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, called for an audit of the nation's food safety system. In a letter to the USDA Inspector General and the Inspector General of Department of Health and Human Services – the two agencies charged with monitoring the nation's food and feed supply – Harkin requested the two offices combine efforts for this comprehensive evaluation.
Note: To view R-CALF USA’s 2007 Fact Sheet on COOL for Beef, visit the “Country of Origin Labeling” link at www.r-calfusa.com. To view Harkin’s letter, go to: http://harkin.senate.gov/news.cfm?id=273076. Or, contact R-CALF USA Communications Coordinator Shae Dodson at the e-mail address or phone number above.