• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

COOL Use UP 16% in Last Year

A

Anonymous

Guest
9/24/2007 6:06:00 AM

Beef Alert: Poll Shows More Americans Checking COOL Labels

More Americans are checking product and food labels after the proliferation of scares associated with Chinese imports, according to a survey conducted by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute.

Nearly 69 percent of the 1,000 Americans polled indicated they check labels for nation of origin, up from 53 percent a year ago, the institute said.

Furthermore, 86 percent agreed with a statement calling for suspension of Chinese imports until China meets U.S. product and food-safety standards.

Meantime, 87 percent indicated they have confidence in American-made and distributed products and food.

But fewer than half of Americans surveyed (47 percent) agreed that the United States is doing a good job ensuring imports meet set safety and quality standards.

"It's not surprising that Americans are clearly very concerned about food imported from other countries," Dr. Balbir Bhasin, a professor of international business at Sacred Heart, said in a press release. "The government clearly needs to do more to protect the consumer for poor quality imports, especially meats, fish and dairy products. Labels and expiration dates alone do not suffice."


By Tom Johnston on Monday, September 24, 2007 For Meatingplace.com.
 

kolanuraven

Well-known member
I know that now I take my reading glasses with me when I go grocery shopping now!


I read & read the labels.

Prob doesn't do me a bit of good....but somehow I like to think it does! :lol:
 

PORKER

Well-known member
COOL recordkeeping starts now

The COOL law is Full speed ahead, implementation of COOL starts midnight September 30 2008. Further delays in implementation are unlikely at this point, but the proposed language in the current farm bill should ease compliance for livestock producers, meat processors, and retailers. Retailers have to prove country of origin by a label on the package or be fined $1000.00 per item. They have to comply with an audit which establishes a three-label system for meat products that would differentiate completely domestic products from completely foreign products.

The changes in the rules will make segregation, labeling, and record-keeping easier with RFID tagged animals and changes to the audit verification and enforcement rules further specify what business records may suffice for country of origin labeling.The easy way is to use commercial databases built for the task. Even produce farmers will need audit records to comply with COOL.

Perhaps most important among the changes for cattle producers is a grandfather clause that considers all animals in the U.S. on January 1, 2008 to be of U.S. origin. But sheep, swine, veal, goat, poultry, fish will need immediate recordkeeping to manage the COOL law as they come to market in a shorter time frame. The easy way to survive an audit of born, raised, processed in the USA is to have records and RFID tagged large animals. Poultry, peanuts and produce buyers will need to pass records of origin on to the retailers in the form of traceability records.

Still, cattle producers will need to maintain documentation of origin by RFID tagging and branding (using their existing business records) from birth to slaughter and move those records thru stockyards intact from this point forward and or by using a commercial database where animal RFID tag records can be searched by processors and retailers . USDA will seek to enter into partnerships with States having existing enforcement infrastructure to assist in the administration of this law.

USDA will determine the scheduling and procedures for the compliance reviews. Any person engaged in the business of supplying a covered commodity to a retailer, whether directly or indirectly, must maintain records to establish and identify the immediate previous source (if applicable) and immediate subsequent recipient of a covered commodity, in such a way that identifies the product unique to that transaction by means of a lot number or other unique identifier, for a period of 1 year from the date of the transaction.
 

Kato

Well-known member
Still, cattle producers will need to maintain documentation of origin by RFID tagging and branding (using their existing business records) from birth to slaughter and move those records thru stockyards intact from this point forward and or by using a commercial database where animal RFID tag records can be searched by processors and retailers .

Gee, that sounds like mandatory ID to me. What if you don't have RFID tags on your cattle? Does that mean they get processed with the out of country cattle? Since Canadian cattle have the RFID tags, and are traceable, does that mean the untagged U.S. cattle get put with South American beef? And at what price? :shock: A lost eartag can add up to a pretty big discount. And don't think that won't happen. :shock:

Are they really going to get something like this up and running by fall? You guys can't even agree on a tagging system, and have been scrapping over traceback for years now. Are they really going to have the manpower and funds to enforce this as well?

It will be interesting to see how it unfolds. I bet there are lots of changes made between now and fall just in the effort to be realistic about the implementation.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Actually, the COOL law was passed in 2002. All fish in the grocerys are using country of origin labels. Some states already have a COOL law.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Since Canadian cattle have the RFID tags, and are traceable, Traceable to who?? Surely the operator of a US. grocery won't be able to access the Canadian Animal database?

does that mean the untagged U.S. cattle get put with South American beef? No, the buyers just won't pay as much anymore. Maybe 20% less.

And at what price? $70 instead of $95

A lost eartag can add up to a pretty big discount. And don't think that won't happen. You got that right, I have seen ear tags laying on the deck many times. I will stick to my boluses. Cheaper then replacing tags.
 

Kato

Well-known member
Surely the operator of a US. grocery won't be able to access the Canadian Animal database?

Why would they want to? They will know by the number that it's country of origin is Canada, and know that if there is a problem it can be traced. The ID numbers all start with numbers designating the country as well as the individual animal's number.

All the information they are going to get on American cattle is their country of origin as well. I can't see every American cattleman attaching his name and address to the cattle all the way through the system. Not from listening to the arguments against mandatory ID that we've heard here.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Just how is that going to help Kato,They will know by the number that it's country of origin is Canada, and know that if there is a problem it can be traced. The ID numbers all start with numbers designating the country as well as the individual animal's number.

How is the packer going to put the right RFID number on the right Steak? How can the retailer tell when the RFID tag comes off with the hide?
 

RobertMac

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
I know that now I take my reading glasses with me when I go grocery shopping now!


I read & read the labels.

Prob doesn't do me a bit of good....but somehow I like to think it does! :lol:

kolanuraven, some advise,..if it has an ingredient label, don't buy it!!!!! Food sold the way God made it, doesn't need it!!!!!
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Here is a link to food that different familys ate with pictures in one week and how much it cost them in their money and ours around the world. Most of these countrys have COOL laws.
http://www.perishablepundit.com/2008/01/pp04.htm#UltimateBanner

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html
The above link is better.
Notice the beef on the tables.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Did you notice the familys that didn't have meat to eat in the time link above.
Their income is so low that they were only eating grains and produce. Income creates food consumption.
 

MoGal

Well-known member
I quit buying Schwans jumbo shrimp because its from Thailand.

OT or anyone else... 2 nights ago I was watching Lou Dobbs and I thought he said, "after 14 years, the Nafta agreement has expired"........... I've searched for his archives but can't find anything more recent than Nov. archives so I could read what he said............ does anyone else know if Nafta has expired? Could we really be that fortunate?
 

Tex

Well-known member
MoGal said:
I quit buying Schwans jumbo shrimp because its from Thailand.

OT or anyone else... 2 nights ago I was watching Lou Dobbs and I thought he said, "after 14 years, the Nafta agreement has expired"........... I've searched for his archives but can't find anything more recent than Nov. archives so I could read what he said............ does anyone else know if Nafta has expired? Could we really be that fortunate?

No, the last protections for farmers that were protected like Mexican farmers expired. Nafta is fully implemented now.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
Mogal and Tex , Is the Mexican and American family's the only ones that Nafta affects in the link below?
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html

Notice the beef on the tables.

What , Whats Wrong here? Not any beef seen ! Junk Food Everywhere ,except the poorest familys as they don't have enough resources to purchase anything !
 

MoGal

Well-known member
I have dial up so its nearly impossible to see videos, that's why I can't see you tube stuff...... ah well, its still good to live in hickville, usa.

Unless we have some serious change, this country's lower and middle class will be like a 3rd world country. You can't pay $10 for a steak when that's how much you get per hour in wages.

Watch the people in a grocery store, they look at all the meat and just go on by, some may purchase a couple of lbs of hamburger but I don't see them loading up on the pricier cuts.

I think more and more people will use pasta as a staple, but I'm not convinced its healthy. The hubby could eat hamburger and ramen noodles every night for supper if I'd fix it..... I don't.

I've had gastric bypass surgery, since I eat small amounts, I'd rather have quality. No rice or pasta for me.
 

PORKER

Well-known member
MoGal these were just pictures ,no videos

Soo! Is the Mexican and American family's the only ones that Nafta affects in the link below?
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html

Notice the beef on the tables.

What , Whats Wrong here? Not any beef seen ! Junk Food Everywhere ,except the poorest familys as they don't have enough resources to purchase anything !
 
Top