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Washington, D.C. - Meat that's labeled "naturally raised" could be coming to supermarkets alongside "natural" meat.
The U.S. Agriculture Department already allows meat to be called "natural" so long as it's minimally processed and doesn't contain artificial ingredients.
Now, the Agriculture Department is proposing to let packers label beef, pork or lamb as "naturally raised," so long as the livestock were never given antibiotics or synthetic hormones or fed any animal by-products. USDA officials say the new labeling would give shoppers more choices in the meat case.
But the proposal, which has drawn 44,000 mostly negative comments, has outraged consumer advocates and many livestock producers, who say the rules don't go far enough because livestock could still be kept in conventional confinement operations and qualify for the new label. Meatpackers themselves are divided over whether the new labeling is a good idea. At least one company fears the label would make conventional products look bad.
Paul Willis of Thornton, who manages a network of farmers who supply what they consider naturally raised hogs to Niman Ranch Pork Co., called the rules a "travesty," saying they don't go far enough.
Niman Ranch hogs are raised outdoors rather than in conventional confinement operations, and without antibiotics and added hormones. Niman Ranch believes the labeling rules should prohibit sows from being kept in crates, a common practice in conventional swine operations to prevent fighting among the hogs.
Full Story: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080322/BUSINESS/803220322/1029/BUSINESS