USDA asks, is it really antibiotic-free, raised humanely?
Two USDA agencies will begin a sampling project to see if there are antibiotic residues in beef marketed as “raised without antibiotics,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The USDA’s food safety agency will also issue a guideline recommending that companies produce more proof when they want to use a label that says animals were raised under specific conditions.
USDA spells it out: Grass-fed beef comes from cattle fed only grass
Eight months after one USDA agency rescinded its standard for grass-fed beef, a sister agency published a "labeling guideline" — open to public comment for 60 days — that says the term is available only for beef from cattle "that were only (100 percent) fed grass (forage) after being weaned." A small-farm group said the step would "preserve the label's strong reputation."
Farm, consumer groups ask USDA to reinstate ‘grass-fed beef’ label
Two months after USDA terminated a voluntary program for labeling grass-fed beef, nine farm and consumer groups asked the department to spell out the conditions for using the term.
USDA drops marketing standard for grass-fed livestock
Six years after it set up a labeling program for grass-fed meat, the USDA terminated the program, as of Tuesday, concluding that it "does not facilitate the marketing of agricultural products in a manner that is useful to stakeholders or consumers."
Irish beef to return to US market after 15-year ban
Ireland is the first European country to regain access to U.S. sales following removal of trade restrictions put in place against mad cow disease 15 years ago, says Irish Times.