The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has issued a new guideline on the steps food companies are expected to take to substantiate on-pack claims such as “antibiotic free” on meat and poultry products. They mandate robust documentation to support the claim and embed a strong steer towards 3rd party certification.
Animal-raising claims such as "raised without antibiotics," "grass-fed" and "free-range," and environment-related claims such as "raised using regenerative agriculture practices" and "climate-friendly," are voluntary marketing claims in the US. The documentation submitted by companies to support such claims is reviewed by FSIS and can only be included on meat and poultry labels after they are approved by the agency.
These strengthened guidelines follow a recent USDA survey which found that 20% of meat on the market labelled as “antibiotic free” contained residues of antibiotics.
Image from the guideline publication.
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