News Desk at FoodSafetyNews.com recently published an article titled “Mandatory Country-of-Origin Meat Labeling Now In Effect”, that explains that some meat being sold in grocery stores must be accurately labled from where it is from.  The law will require retailers to clearly state on packaging where the animal was born, how it was raised, and where it was slaughtered.  Such a standard of labeling has not as yet been seen and some fear it will discourage Americans from buying meat that was raised and slaughtered in foreign countries.

Many people have a problem with not knowing where the meat they consume comes from, myself included.  Before the new labeling law, it was only necessary for meat companies to state what counties the meat had passed through, but now, as stated above, it is required for the consumer to know where the animal was born, where the animal was raised, and where the animal was slaughtered, thus outlawing the previous inherent ambiguity in the old labeling system.

These new laws are not happily welcomed by some meat companies, anticipating a dip in sales when the origins of their products are made clear.  Competing ideas here are the freedom of corporations to package their products as they wish, and the freedom of consumers to know the origin of their food.

The governments of Mexico and Canada are also not in favor of the new labeling laws, bringing grievances before the World Trade Organization, and soon, a US federal court will hold hearings to contemplate the legality of the law for foreign companies.  Other companies who have a stake in the US meat industry are very worried that law may bring about international sanctions that hinder trading of meat with the US.