USCA Wants “Made In USA” Issues Addressed

The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association has filed a petition for rule making with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.  They want the feds to address "Product of the U.S.A." and "Made in the U.S.A." claims on U.S. beef.  Since the repeal of country-of-origin labeling in 2015, USCA said there are no clear definitions for what constitutes a U.S. beef product.  USCA Director Emeritus Leo McDonnell is from Columbus, MT, says it’s always a good time to fight for truth in labeling.

“You know, we have folks that are right now, labeling foreign products with a “USA” or “Made In America” label, and we need to clean all of that up, so the only thing that’s being labeled with anything that would make consumers think it was U.S. product needs to be strictly beef that’s raised here in the United States, processed here in the United States.”

McDonnell noted they saw a decrease in market share when COOL went away.

“I think if you look back at the years during mandatory country of origin labeling, it’s hard to say it didn’t help the price of U.S. cattle.  When you got into the ground beef sector which is about 45%-50% of the beef we sell, we saw a huge premium, for 90% domestic lean compared to imported lean.”

McDonnell added the greatest value the beef industry can promote is being truthful and transparent with the customer.

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