990509 Origin of Food on Labels Pushed

Washington - Every day millions of Americans buy meat and produce in their grocery stores that may well have been imported from countries as far away as Chile and Australia.

Now, a group of lawmakers is pushing for mandatory country of origin labels on those products, saying consumers have a right to know what they're purchasing.

“It's kind of ironic that in the marketplace we label products from T-shirts to computers but we don't label food,” Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., who is a co- sponsor of legislation to require country of origin labeling for meat, said at a House hearing. “If it's good for T-shirts, it's good for T-bones.”

Added the bill's sponsor, Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, “With free and open trade comes the responsibility to protect American consumers from inferior foreign product.”

Imported meat products entering the United States are even allowed to carry the “USDA” label, which could mislead consumers, said Rep. Rick Hill, R-Mont. It's also unfair to American producers who contribute millions each year to promote their products.

“We don't ask Coke to lend it's brand name to a competitor,” Hill said.

A companion piece of legislation covering fruits and vegetables is sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif.

The country of origin debate has been waged in Congress for some time but with the agricultural economy sluggish partly from lagging exports, lawmakers are hoping to make headway on the issue this year.

A recent study by the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigative and auditing arm, found that the United States imported 16 billion pounds of fresh produce in 1997, mostly from Mexico, Canada and Chile.

In the meat sector, the Agriculture Department estimates that 1 percent of domestic beef consumption is from imported beef muscle cuts and that 24 percent of lamb consumption is imported. No figures were available on pork. Both the beef and sheep industries support labeling, but the National Pork Producers Association opposes the measure.

J. Patrick Boyle, president of the American Meat Institute, which represents meatpackers, warned lawmakers that mandatory labeling is “not helpful but actually harmful to the U.S. livestock, meat and retail industries.”

Boyle said the legislation would cause a financial burden for producers, who would be required to keep good records to guarantee labeling accuracy, as well as packers who would have to spend millions to segregate domestic and foreign products.

Steve Anderson, president of the American Frozen Food Institute, complained that labels would be particularly burdensome for frozen food products, which often contain numerous ingredients.

“Country of origin marking at the ingredient level would complicate significantly the manufacture of a frozen meat lasagna or other frozen food product,” he said.

This Article Compliments of...