August 27, 2007

USDA to set voluntary grass-fed beef standards soon

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service would issue voluntary standards for grass-fed livestock in the next few weeks.

AMS Assistant Deputy Administrator Bill Sessions said the change would occur in about a month. The standard would verify that livestock has been 99 percent fed on a grass and forage diet.

After the voluntary standard is established, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) would recognize producers who meet the standard and grant them the right to use the grass-fed label claim on meat from those animals. Currently, such labeling is based on a case-by-case basis. .

USDA first proposed the grass-fed standards in May 2006, reflecting rising demand for consumer information.

Addressing the National Meat Association conference, Sessions also said AMS will propose its voluntary naturally raised standards for public comment sometime this fall.

Research showed the two issues consumers who want naturally raised meat are most concerned about are antibiotic and hormone use, followed by animal by-products in feed, whether the animals were free ranged and animal welfare issues, he said.

Like the grass-fed standard, FSIS would be in charge of approving meat labeling for producers who met the AMS voluntary standards.

AMS is also studying voluntary tenderness standards. Currently, four subcommittees are investigating such issues as characteristics that define tenderness, ways to evaluate those characteristics and consumer perceptions of tenderness.