USDA extends comment period for ‘Product of U.S.A.’ labeling policy

Citing "significant interest from stakeholders," the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) approved a request from the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and American Grassfed Association (AGA) to extend the public comment period for the groups' petition to stop imported meat from being mislabeled "Product of U.S.A." The new deadline for comments is Sept. 17, 2018. The OCM and AGA joint petition, filed on June 12, 2018, would restore the original FSIS handbook definition of "Product of U.S.A.," which was based on the origin of the ingredients being labeled. Sometime between April 1985 and August 2005 the ingredient-based standard was repealed by FSIS and replaced with an undefined processing standard. Following the repeal of mandatory Country of Origin Labeling in 2015, global meatpacking corporations began abusing the label by misbranding meat and meat products from foreign countries as "Product of U.S.A." after moving them through USDA-inspected processing plants.