Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 9/30/16

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today the availability of an updated compliance guideline on documentation required to support animal-raising claims on product labels that processors must submit to the agency for approval of their use on product labels.

The updated guideline reflects FSIS’s current position and procedures for reviewing animal-raising claims and includes explanations of animal-raising claims that FSIS may approve as well as the types of supporting documentation that the agency requires.

Examples of animal-raising claims include but are not limited to:  “Raised Without Antibiotics,” “Organic,” “Grass- Fed,” “Free-Range” and “Raised without the use of hormones.”

For most animal-raising claims, the documentation typically needed to support these claims includes:
1. A detailed written description explaining the controls used for ensuring that the raising claim is valid from birth to harvest or the period of raising being referenced by the claim;
2. A signed and dated document describing how the animals are raised (e.g., vegetarian-fed, raised without antibiotics, grass- fed), to support that the specific claim made is truthful and not misleading;
3. A written description of the product-tracing and segregation mechanism from time of slaughter or further processing through packaging and wholesale or retail distribution;
4. A written description for the identification, control, and segregation of non-conforming animals or products; and
5. If a third party certifies a claim, a current copy of the certificate.

FSIS is requesting comments on this guideline and may update it in response to comments. Meanwhile, however, the agency is encouraging plant operators who want to submit requests for approvals of animal-raising claims on product labels to begin using this guideline.
View the FSIS notice here.

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