USDA Releases New Guidance on Animal-Raising and Environmental Claims

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it just released updated guidance on making animal-raising and environmental claims on meat and poultry packaging.  Although the updated guidance, FSIS Guideline on Substantiating Animal-Raising or Environment-Related Labeling Claims, does not have the force of law, it does represent the Food Safety and Inspection Services' current thinking on these issues.  The guidelines were last updated in 2019. 

As part of the announcement, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said, “These updates will help to level the playing field for businesses who are truthfully using these claims and ensure people can trust the labels when they purchase meat and poultry products.” 

The updated guidance addresses voluntary marketing claims that highlight aspects of how animals are raised and how the producer implements environmentally-preferable practices, such as “raised without antibiotics,” “grass-fed,” “free-range,” “raised using regenerative agriculture practices,” and “climate-friendly.” 

Most significantly, in the updated guidance, the FSIS strongly encourages the use of third-party certifications to substantiate animal-raising or environment-related claims.   The agency explained, “Third party certification of animal-raising or environment-related claims helps ensure that such claims are truthful and not misleading by having an independent organization verify that their standards are being met on the farm for the raising of animals and for environmental stewardship.”  

The guidance also explains that environment-related claims will only be approved if certain disclosures are made on the packaging, such as, for example, showing the name of the certifying entity and including an explanation of what the claim means.  In addition, the guidance sets forth some criteria for what it considers to be an acceptable third party certification, including, for example, that the organization be independent and that the organization's standards be “credible and reliable."