Labeling, Lunch & Listeria

The USDA figured large in a number of food and beverage industry stories this week.

• Meat companies will need more substance behind package claims.
• School lunches can’t be colorful in California.
• Boar’s Head failed to keep its plant ship-shape and now faces serious consequences.

Just in: A disappointing U.S. hunger report released yesterday afternoon promises to spur conversation.

“How this went on for two years without shutting down, either voluntarily from Boar’s Head or the government doing their job in shutting these people down … It’s almost like they were growing Listeria as opposed to producing meat for human consumption.”

Bill Marler, Publisher, Food Safety News (YouTube)

Claims Department

On August 28, the USDA Food Safety Inspection and Service updated its meat labeling rules. The Guideline on Substantiating Animal-Raising or Environment-Related Labeling Claims covers how meat makers can demonstrate how products fulfill any housing, animal care, antibiotic use, breed designation or organic label claims.

• Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack explained, “USDA continues to deliver on its commitment to fairness and choice for both farmers and consumers, and that means supporting transparency and high-quality standards.”
• Meatingplace covered how the USDA dealt with three related petitions: rejecting PETA’s complaint that the agency did not have sufficient jurisdiction; denying an Environmental Working Group request to ban “low carbon” labels for beef (none are currently approved); and incorporating Perdue Farms’ feedback on differentiation between “free range” and “pasture raised” poultry.
• Politico’s Marcia Brown portrayed the update as cracking down on “greenwashing,” citing a report that found antibiotic residues in 20% of tested meat with the “raised without antibiotics” claim.
• Meanwhile, activist group Friends of the Earth objected that the requirements are voluntary: “Failing to require, rather than simply encourage, third-party certification leaves the door open for Big Ag loopholes.”

Our Takeaway: The USDA is fairly strict regarding labeling. Even with voluntary guidelines, claims are heavily scrutinized. Activist petitions on this topic seemed rooted in general objections to meat production.

Lunch Is in Session

Nationwide, students returned to school over the past couple of weeks. As a result, a plethora of interests turned their attention to the government’s role in the midday meal:

• USDA celebrates new school meals options as new school year begins | USDA
• California one step away from banning food dyes in schools | Center for Science in the Public Interest
• Back-to-school is a perfect fit for produce | Supermarket Perimeter
• State of K-12 foodservice: Getting comfortable with change | Foodservice Director
• Seminar | Healthy School Meals for All: How we got here and where we’re going | Food Research & Action Center
• Free school lunches: Where do Trump and Harris stand? | The New York Times
• Hayes introduces legislation to expand school meal access to vulnerable students | Congresswoman Jahana Hayes
• The corporation stealing your kid’s lunch money | The Lever

Boar’s Head Listeria Crisis

57 cases, 57 hospitalizations and 9 deaths in 18 states. Those are the latest numbers the CDC reported concerning the Boar’s Head Listeria outbreak, which was first detected in late July. Reports confirmed the source of the illnesses: a Boar’s Head plant in Virginia that produced liverwurst and other deli meat products.

• The New York Times detailed the situation on August 31, emphasizing this is the biggest Listeria recall “since 2011, when tainted cantaloupe killed 33 people and hospitalized at least 143.”
• In a video on YouTube, Food Safety News publisher and attorney Bill Marler explained the nature of Listeria poisoning, the role the CDC plays and how officials isolated the cause of the outbreak. Marler, who has prosecuted food safety violators for decades, called this “the worst one I’ve seen.” 
• Progressive Grocer summarized an USDA inspection of the facility that included 69 noncompliance violations: discolored meat buildup on machinery, lines of ants, flying insects, black mold, mildew and algae.
• On September 3, Marler demanded a congressional investigation: “It is hard to wrap your head around how food could be produced in these conditions by this company and under the gaze of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service inspectors.”
• Food Politics blogger Marion Nestle pointed out: “The inspection system has a built-in conflict of interest. The system is voluntary. The USDA cannot force compliance or order recalls. All it can do is to withdraw its inspectors, thereby forcing the plant to close. Nobody ever wants to do that. The food safety system, divided between two agencies as it is (with different legislative mandates and different powers), needs an overhaul. Lives are at risk.”
• For the latest, please visit the CDC and the Boar’s Head recall page.