September 26, 2008

Smithfield Foods has announced it will process only US hogs, starting from April 2009 onwards.

Smithfield said labelling will be used to communicate their decision to consumers.

The decision is made in response to the introduction of mCOOL, or Mandatory Country of Origin Labelling programme, which is scheduled to take effect at the end of the month.

As of September 30, various meat, fruit and vegetable products will be required to have labels displaying their country of origin.

"Smithfield expects that any independent producer who wishes to be a valued supplier of live animals to Smithfield will work with the company between now and the end of March to create a fully documented and transparent supply of hogs born and raised in the US," the company said.