USDA Takes Action on Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2008 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture today issued an interim final rule for the mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) program that will become effective on Sept. 30.

The rule covers muscle cuts and ground beef (including veal), lamb, chicken, goat, and pork; perishable agricultural commodities (fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables); macadamia nuts; pecans; ginseng; and peanuts -- as required by the 2002 and 2008 Farm Bills. USDA implemented the COOL program for fish and shellfish covered commodities in October 2004.

Commodities covered under COOL must be labeled at retail to indicate their country of origin. However, they are excluded from mandatory COOL if they are an ingredient in a processed food item.

USDA has also revised the definition of a processed food item so that items derived from a covered commodity that has undergone a physical or chemical change (e.g., cooking, curing, smoking) or that has been combined with other covered commodities or other substantive food components (e.g., chocolate, breading, tomato sauce) are excluded from COOL labeling.

Food service establishments, such as restaurants, lunchrooms, cafeterias, food stands, bars, lounges, and similar enterprises are exempt from the mandatory country of origin labeling requirements.

The rule outlines the requirements for labeling covered commodities. It reduces the recordkeeping retention requirements for suppliers and centrally-located retail records to one year and removes the requirement to maintain records at the retail store. The law provides for penalties for both suppliers and retailers found in violation of the law of up to $1,000 per violation.

The rule will become effective on Sept. 30, 2008. To allow time for covered commodities that are already in the chain of commerce -- and for which no origin information is known or been provided -- to clear the system, the requirements of this rule will not apply to covered commodities produced or packaged before Sept. 30, 2008.

The rule prescribes specific criteria that must be met for a covered commodity to bear a "United States country of origin" declaration. In addition, the rule also contains provisions for labeling covered commodities of foreign origin, meat products from multiple origins, ground meat products, as well as commingled covered commodities.

USDA plans to conduct education and outreach activities during the six months following the rule's effective date to help the industry comply with the law.

The full text of the interim final rule will be published in the Aug. 1, 2008, Federal Register.

Copies of the interim final rule and additional information can be found at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/COOL.

BeefTalk: Do We Exist Only If Someone Else Knows We Exist?

The following excerpt is from a Beef Talk article recently authored by Dr. Kris Ringwall, Director of the Dickinson Research Extension Center for North Dakota State University. He is a regular and well-followed commentator within the beef industry.

"The concept of data collection is knocking on the door of the beef industry, but the concept is not registering. In fact, there actually is a fairly large disconnect.

This is ironic because most, if not all, beef producers pride themselves on their understanding of the skills needed to master the production of beef. Today, there is another player simply called “data.”

The information associated with individual cattle is critical. Producers need to understand how livestock production is viewed ....

That distinction is not being made and the ramifications are lost revenue in the actual value of the calf and lost future opportunity. This is critical for the future of the beef business ...."

For the full article, go to the BeefTalk article, Do We Exist Only If Someone Else Knows We Exist?

As Dr. Ringwall is also the Director of CalfAID, a USDA PVP Program for livestock source and birthdate information, you may also want to compare the Pardalis news release from November, 2007 entitled CalfAID Director Testifies To International Trade Commission. And you might also want to check out a March 2008 news release from North Dakota State University entitled N.D.’s CalfAID Program to Continue.

Visualizations : Outbreak of Infections Caused by Salmonella Saintpaul in Certain Tomatoes - Timeline

Posted to Many Eyes on June 20, 2008 by the Food Safety Information Center:

• "Since April, 552 persons infected with Salmonella Saintpaul with the same genetic fingerprint have been identified in 32 states and the District of Columbia. These were identified because clinical laboratories in all states send Salmonella strains from ill persons to their State public health laboratory for characterization. The marked increase in reported ill persons since the last update is not thought to be due to a large number of new infections. The number of reported ill persons increased mainly because some states improved surveillance for Salmonella in response to this outbreak and because laboratory identification of many previously submitted strains was completed." Data source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

And, by way of comparison, here's an MSNBC.COM video podcasts from June 18, 2008, the day before.

Are Food Labels Reliable?

When 0 trans fats doesn't mean zero ....

The Issue of Information Ownership

Ahmed ElAmin is a business writer of over 20 years' standing specialising in development issues, technology, international business and offshore finance. He currently serves as the editor of FoodProductionDaily.com.

In May, 2007 Ahmed published an article about data ownership in The Royal Gazette after reading my white paper, Banking on Granular Information Ownership. Here's the introductory paragraph to Ahmed's article:

"Could we treat data as if it were money, private objects that can be deposited, exchanged, managed, and protected? This is the concept Steve Holcombe, CEO of Pardalis, put to me by e-mail after reading one of my articles on proposed EU legislation to limit the use of radio frequency identification technology (RFID)."

 To see Ahmed's article in its entirety, go to The Issue of Information Ownership.