By Jennifer Dorsett
Field Editor
The state’s largest farm and ranch organization is requesting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) establish accurate beef labeling requirements.
In April, Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) submitted official comments that support a food labeling petition to FSIS to exclude cultured or plant-based protein from being called “meat” or “beef.”
“False and misleading marketing tactics derived from lax labeling standards for meat substitute products negatively impact traditional farmers and lead to confusion for consumers,” Tracy Tomascik, TFB associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities, wrote.
The organization supports limiting labels for beef and meat to only products derived from live animals born, raised and harvested in the traditional manner.
“It’s important for farmers, ranchers and consumers that labels accurately reflect what we’re buying at the grocery store,” Tomascik said. “As these imitation meat companies grow, their products will become more visible to consumers, so we want to make sure they’re labeled appropriately.”
Farm Bureau wants labeling to inform consumers on the differences between beef raised traditionally from cattle and those alternatives derived from meat cultured or made from plants.
“Texas Farm Bureau wants to ensure food labels are accurate and representative of the makeup of the product,” Tomascik said. “We support a farmer’s ability to fairly market the crop. We like that grain farmers could benefit from the production of an alternative protein source, but we want to make sure consumers know what they’re buying. Products derived from alternative sources like synthetic products from plants, insects, non-animal components and lab-grown animal cells shouldn’t be labeled as meat.”
The American Farm Bureau Federation also submitted comments supporting the restriction of the terms “meat” and “beef” to include only tissue from live animals born, raised and harvested in the traditional manner.
The comment opportunity arose after the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA) petitioned FSIS in February to establish specific beef labeling requirements so imitation meat products cannot be confused with beef or meat.
USCA said in the petition there are currently no labeling requirements mandated by law for products labeled as beef or meat.
“The labels of ‘beef’ and ‘meat’ should inform consumers that the product is derived naturally from animals as opposed to alternative proteins such as plants and insects or artificially grown in a laboratory,” USCA wrote.
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) also submitted comments, encouraging the agency to not only modify labeling standards but to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to facilitate timely and better enforcement actions against improperly-labeled imitation meat products.
NCBA also stated it believes the language in the petition submitted by USCA will result in the exclusion of regulation of lab-grown meat by FSIS and shift that responsibility to FDA.
The comment period ended April 10.
FSIS has not yet issued a response to the petition.