USDA’s Controversial Updated Meat and Poultry Labeling Guidelines

The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) has expressed strong disappointment over the revised meat and poultry labeling guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Although the USDA claims these updates will better protect consumers from misleading labels, AWI argues that the guidelines fall short, especially by not mandating independent third-party certification for claims like “humanely raised” or “raised without antibiotics.”

Zack Strong, AWI’s acting director and senior attorney for the Farmed Animal Program, acknowledged that while the new guidelines are a minor improvement, they remain inadequate to prevent companies from making unverified welfare claims. “When consumers see claims such as ‘humanely raised,’ they expect that the animals involved received better care than the industry status quo. The USDA continues to allow companies to essentially make up their own definitions with no repercussions,” Strong stated.

AWI has consistently highlighted the issue of misleading labels through various reports over the past decade. These reports reveal that many producers make unverified claims, enabling them to charge higher prices without actually improving animal welfare.

Despite pressure from lawmakers and advocacy groups, the FSIS has made only minimal changes in response to these concerns. For instance, while the term “pasture-raised” now has a more specific definition, the FSIS still does not require producers to provide concrete proof of compliance. Similarly, companies are merely encouraged, not required, to validate “raised without antibiotics” claims, even though recent FSIS testing found antibiotic residues in a significant number of cattle labeled as such.

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