USDA’s current policies permit the use of “Made in the USA” and “Product of the USA” on meat and poultry products that are processed in the United States, regardless of where the animal was born, raised, or slaughtered.
Following petitions and studies to assess consumer understanding, USDA has determined that this policy is misleading to consumers and does not align with consumer expectations. As such, the agency has developed a proposed rule which would redefine the requirements for voluntary claims such as “Made in the USA” and “Product of the USA.”
Under the proposed rule, these claims could only be used on FSIS products where all FSIS-regulated components of the product are born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the United States, and any non-FSIS-regulated components (other than spices and flavors) are of US origin.
In addition, qualified claims, such as “sliced and packaged in the United States from imported pork,” would be permitted when truthful and not misleading. A description of the processing steps that occurred in the United States must be included in the qualified claim.
If a claim is made, the company would be required to maintain records to support the US-origin claim. Labels using these types of claims would be eligible for the FSIS generic label approval process.
FSIS products that are also subject to mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) would continue to comply with COOL requirements.
USDA is accepting comments on the proposed rule until May 12, 2023; comments can be submitted on regulations.gov.
Liz Presnell is a food industry consultant and lawyer, and has worked in the food industry for nearly a decade. She can be reached at presnell@foodindustrycounsel.com.