The Truth behind Meat Labels
Greentips: May 2010
Most food animals are raised in crowded CAFOs (confined animal feeding operations) and fed grain grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. To promote faster growth and compensate for unhealthy conditions, CAFOs add antibiotics to animal feed—accounting for about 70 percent of all antibiotics and related drugs used in the United States. This overuse of antibiotics leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant diseases that are more difficult and expensive to treat.
You can avoid contributing to these problems by reducing your meat consumption and purchasing meat produced in a more environmentally friendly manner. The best way to know how your meat was produced is to buy from local farmers who can tell you about their practices directly. Labels on meat products should ideally convey the same information, but marketers make many claims that do not carry equal weight. Here are just a few you may encounter in supermarket aisles.
Best: Labels with strong, verifiable claims
– Certified Organic. This label, regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and verified by independent auditors, indicates that animals were raised without antibiotics or growth hormones and given only certified organic feed (i.e., grown without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides). Livestock must also have year-round access to the outdoors and be on pasture at least 120 days, and a minimum percentage of their food must come from pasture.
Good: Labels with meaningful claims, but lacking comprehensive verification
– Grass-fed. The “USDA Process Verified Grass Fed” label indicates that cattle and other ruminant animals were fed only grass, hay, and other forages and had continuous access to the outdoors during the growing season. A “grass-fed” label that does not include the words “USDA Process Verified” means the producer’s claim was evaluated by the USDA but not verified by the agency through on-site inspection.
– No Antibiotics/Raised without Antibiotics. Indicates that animals never received antibiotics. (Meat from animals that received antibiotic treatment for illness cannot be sold with this label.) This claim is approved by the USDA based on documentation provided by the producer.
Buyer beware
Several labels, despite being considered “truthful” by the USDA, can be misleading to consumers. They are based on information provided by the producer and are not necessarily subject to independent audit, though they may be certified by state agencies, grocery stores, or other companies or nonprofit organizations.
– Vegetarian Feed. Indicates that animals were not fed animal by-products. However, meat from cattle fed an unnatural grain-based diet could also receive this label.
– Free-Range/Free-Roaming. Indicates that poultry had access to the outdoors—but does not guarantee that they actually ventured outside or had access to pasture.
– Natural/All-Natural. These labels pertain to meat processing, and give no indication of how the animals were raised. Some producers use labels like “naturally raised” to refer to how they raised their animals, but these are approved on a case-by-case basis and are not subject to a consistent USDA standard.
