California Ag Network

Tag: Meat Institute

  • The Meat Institute Issues Statement on Executive Order

    The Meat Institute issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s Executive Order to explore implementing Mandatory Country-of-Origin-Labeling (mCOOL) for beef products.

    “The Meat Institute appreciates the Administration’s continued focus on strengthening the U.S. beef supply chain and exploring ways to bring beef prices down for consumers.  However, the President’s Executive Order to explore implementation of mCOOL raises concerns about revisiting a failed policy that the United States has already tried and that Congress ultimately repealed in 2015. We should allow the free market to work, rather than have the government mandate how beef must be marketed to consumers.

    “Mandatory COOL is all cost, with no demonstrated increase in demand or added value. USDA’s own Chief Economist reached that conclusion in 2015 after the previous mCOOL program imposed roughly $1.5 billion in implementation costs and $200 million in annual ongoing costs.

    “The Meat Institute’s recent economic analysis shows the same concerns remain today. Reinstating mCOOL for beef would cost $721 million in first-year implementation costs and add an estimated $835 million annually to consumers’ beef purchases.

    “With beef supplies at a 75-year low and demand strong, now is not the time to add unnecessary costs and complexity to the beef supply chain or risk putting further upward pressure on prices.  Additional consumer costs could jeopardize the strong beef demand the industry has enjoyed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has implemented a robust voluntary ‘Product of USA’ label that identifies beef from animals born, raised and processed in the United States. The voluntary label should be given a chance to succeed before Congress repeats a burdensome and costly regulatory mistake.”

    — Story contributed by The Meat Institute

  • Meat Institute Weighs in on “Authorization” for Farmer and Rancher Meat Processing

    The Meat Institute issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s announcement that he is authorizing farmers and ranchers to process their own meat:

    “America’s farmers and ranchers already have multiple pathways to process and market the livestock they raise that can be leveraged to achieve the goals stated by the President today. Allowing uninspected meat to be sold to unwitting consumers is the wrong approach, and risks undermining this country’s reputation for producing the safest meat products in the world.

    Today, producers may choose to process animals under a custom exemption, establish their own state or federally inspected facility to sell meat commercially, or work with one of the thousands of small and very small federally and state-inspected establishments. The Food Safety and Inspection Service provides extensive support to small and very small establishments through plain-language guidance, technical assistance, educational resources, and dedicated outreach programs designed to help plants meet regulatory requirements and produce safe food.

    “We are waiting to see more details from the Administration; however, it is critical that expanding processing opportunities does not come at the expense of food safety. Federal and state inspection requirements exist for a reason: to help ensure that meat sold to American families is safe, wholesome and properly labeled. Allowing uninspected or inadequately inspected meat into the marketplace would put consumers at risk and undermine the food safety system that protects millions of Americans every day.

    “If the goal is to lower beef prices for American families, lowering food safety standards is the wrong response: America needs more cattle. Expanding the nation’s herd and increasing the beef supply will lower beef prices, preserve consumers’ and trading partners’ trust in the safety of the meat supply, and strengthen the entire beef supply chain, from producers to consumers.  Jeopardizing food safety jeopardizes public health and the entire meat industry.

    To consumers: “The meat supply is safe thanks to the companies that prioritize food safety every single day, overlaid by USDA’s inspection system. The Meat Institute will not waver in its efforts to continuously improve food safety and quality for Americans.”

  • Meat Institute: FDA Proposed GRAS Reforms Good First Step

    The Meat Institute said the proposed changes to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) generally recognized as safe (GRAS) regulations are a good first step but it will continue to work with the Administration to ensure reforms protect food safety, foster innovation and maintain an affordable food supply.
    “The Meat Institute supports updating the GRAS framework in a way that strengthens consumer confidence while preserving a science-based, risk-based regulatory system,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “We will work closely with FDA and FSIS to ensure reforms continue to protect food safety, support innovation, and preserve affordable meat and poultry options for consumers.”
    “Consumers deserve confidence that the ingredients in their food have been rigorously evaluated for safety — and an updated GRAS process can deliver that transparency without disrupting an abundant, affordable food supply.
    “GRAS reform should improve transparency, establish a consistent national standard, while recognizing the unique regulatory framework that governs meat and poultry, where FSIS relies on FDA’s safety evaluations to approve substances as safe and suitable,” said Potts. “Close coordination between the two agencies is essential to consistent implementation.”
    The Meat Institute will provide comments during the comment period including the following priorities for regulators to consider:
    Practical timelines. New requirements should include adequate implementation time for manufacturers to comply.
    Preserving longstanding safe uses. Reform should not disturb ingredients with an established safety record.
    FDA-FSIS coordination. Close collaboration between the two agencies is critical to consistent implementation across the food supply.
    The Meat Institute warns that without thoughtful implementation, reform could delay new technologies and ingredients that improve food safety, extend shelf life, reduce food waste, and help manufacturers meet evolving consumer expectations.
    “The Meat Institute encourages HHS and FDA to pursue GRAS reform through a transparent, science-based, and collaborative approach that provides regulatory certainty for industry while protecting consumers,” said Potts.
    — Story contributed by the Meat Institute

  • Meat Institute Supports Federal Packaging Transparency Legislation

    The Meat Institute announced support for the Recycled Materials Attribution Act (RMAA) and the Packaging and Claims Knowledge (PACK) Act, bipartisan legislation that establishes clear, consistent national standards for recycled content and environmental marketing claims. The bills were debated today during a hearing of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.

    “The meat and poultry industry depends on packaging that protects food safety, maintains product quality, and reduces food waste,” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. “The RMAA and PACK Act would provide consumers with clearer information while establishing a single, reliable national framework that supports innovation and compliance across the food supply chain.”

    Meat and poultry companies face a growing patchwork of state packaging and labeling laws that use different definitions for terms such as “recyclable,” “compostable,” “reusable” and “recycled content.” These varying requirements create compliance challenges for businesses operating across state lines and can make environmental claims more difficult for consumers to understand.

    Packaging plays a critical role in the meat and poultry industry by helping prevent contamination, extending shelf life, and protecting products throughout refrigerated and frozen distribution. Even modest packaging modifications often require extensive testing and operational adjustments to maintain food safety and performance standards. Meat Institute members have invested significantly in reducing packaging materials and preventing food waste while meeting consumer expectations for safe, high-quality products.

    The Meat Institute believes a uniform federal framework would provide greater certainty for continued packaging innovation, support sustainability goals, and ensure consumers receive consistent information regardless of where products are sold. By replacing conflicting state requirements with a national standard, the RMAA and PACK Act would help strengthen consumer confidence and improve the effectiveness of environmental marketing claims.

    “We appreciate Chairman Gus Bilirakis, Ranking Member Jan Schakowsky, and members of the Subcommittee for their leadership on these important issues,” Potts said. “The Meat Institute looks forward to working with Congress to advance practical solutions that benefit consumers, manufacturers, and the environment.”

    — Story contributed by the Meat Institute

  • Meat Institute Marks 120 years with Evolution of Solutions Summit

    The Meat Institute announced the evolution of the Protein PACT Solutions Summit into the Solutions Summit, a broader conference experience designed to help protein industry leaders navigate today’s interconnected business, regulatory, workforce, technology and market challenges. The announcement coincides with the organization’s 120thanniversary milestone, underscoring both the strength of its history and its continued commitment to leading the industry forward.

    Taking place Oct. 7-9, at The Roosevelt in New Orleans, the Solutions Summit builds on the foundation of the Protein PACT Solutions Summit while broadening the conversation to address the full range of priorities shaping modern meat and poultry operations.

    “This change reflects growth, not departure,” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. “For 120 years, our strength has come from listening to members, adapting to change and leading with purpose. The Solutions Summit is the next expression of that tradition, built for what today’s leaders need and where the industry is headed.”

    A Broader Scope for a More Complex Industry

    Sustainability and continuous improvement, cornerstones of the Protein PACT, remain central to the organization’s identity. The Solutions Summit builds on that foundation while reflecting the broader set of priorities members are navigating today, including workforce challenges, regulatory pressure, technology disruption, market volatility and rising expectations across their organizations.

    The Solutions Summit is designed to address these priorities in an integrated way through high-impact education, trusted regulatory insight and peer-driven knowledge sharing that equips both senior and rising leaders with perspective and practical solutions that drive real business value. — Story contributed by the Meat Institute

  • Meat Institute Releases Report on How Animal Ag Supply Chains Are Calculating Emissions

    The Meat Institute released a new report entitled,  “Greenhouse Gas Accounting: Emissions Factors Brief,” offering a closer look at how companies across the animal ag supply chain are currently measuring and reporting upstream greenhouse gas emissions.

    “This report is intended as a practical resource for companies throughout the meat and poultry supply chain to better understand how emissions data are developed, to ask clearer questions of data providers, and to build strategies that reflect their operational realities,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “The report also outlines current knowledge gaps and points to where practical guidance and coordination could help improve alignment throughout the supply chain.”

    The brief reflects input from Meat Institute packer and processor members through surveys, interviews and industry roundtables, along with review by independent experts. It focuses on the scope 3 emission factors used today for beef, pork and poultry, and highlights areas where approaches differ across data sources, system boundaries, and calculation methods.

    For the broader supply chain, the report shows that:

    — Reported emission factor values span a wide range across proteins, often due to differences in functional units, geographic assumptions and whether impacts such as land use change are included or reported separately.

    — Many companies reference the same core U.S. studies, but apply them in different ways based on their own sourcing regions, customers, and reporting needs.

    — Recent publicly available data for poultry remains limited, with most of the reported information coming from third-party tools rather than published literature.

    — Method choices — such as how methane is modeled or which Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment values are applied — can meaningfully affect reported results, even when companies are working from similar underlying data.

    This report is a product of the Meat Institute’s Sustainability Committee.

    — Story contribued by the Meat Institute

  • Meat Institute Updates Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Forms

    The Meat Institute today published updated versions of the Animal Welfare Audit and the Meat Industry Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines, reinforcing the industry’s commitment to humane animal handling, employee safety, and continuous improvement.

    “Humane animal handling is a core responsibility of meat packers and a foundational element of a safe and ethical food system,” said Julie Anna Potts, President and CEO of the Meat Institute. “These updated Guidelines and Audit reflect the latest science and best practices, giving companies the tools they need to protect animal welfare, support their workforce, and deliver wholesome food to consumers around the world.”

    The Guidelines and Audit were authored by the Meat Institute’s Animal Welfare Committee, working with Colorado State University Professor of Animal Behavior Dr. Temple Grandin.

    The Audit is certified by the Professional Animal Auditor Certification Organization (PAACO).

    Packer/processor members that complete the Animal Welfare Audit actively align with the Meat Institute’s Protein PACT goal that by 2030, 100% of Meat Institute members who handle live animals will pass third party animal transport and slaughter audits.

    For the new Animal Handling Guidelines, Audit forms and additional resources, go here.

    The primary changes to the updated Audit and Guidelines include:

    • Points for each criterion allowing users to set goals for each element of the Audit for continuous improvement.
    • Transportation and slaughter audit for bison.
    • Vocalization of cattle in the slaughter Audit will now be scored similarly to swine vocalization to maintain consistency across species.

    The Meat Institute will host a webinar – open to the public – on Feb. 19 at 12 p.m. ET to detail the recent updates made to the Audit and Guidelines. Register here.

    The Meat Institute will also highlight these changes at this year’s Animal Care and Handling Conference May 12 – 13 in Kansas City, MO. The conference will focus on improving animal welfare throughout the supply chain, the latest academic research, and applying best practices.

    The Audit was originally developed by the Meat Institute’s Animal Welfare Committee and Grandin in 1997, and its adoption by meat companies helped transform how livestock are handled and processed in meat plants.  By measuring objective criteria like animal vocalizations, falls, the movement of animals, and effective stunning, facilities evaluate their animal handling practices, identify problems and drive continuous improvement.

    For audio/video of the Meat Institute’s Director of Animal Health and Welfare, Jesse Fulton, M.S. discussing the Guidelines and Audit, go here.

    Additional Meat Institute resources related to animal handling are available here.

    The Meat Institute represents the full community of people and companies who make the majority of meat American families rely on every day. The Meat Institute’s hands-on regulatory and technical expertise, proactive advocacy, unique convening power, collaboration within and beyond animal agriculture, and sector-leading continuous improvement initiatives drive relationships and resources that ensure meat continues to be a vital, trusted pillar of healthy diets and thriving communities for generations to come. To learn more, visit: MeatInstitute.org.

  • Meat Institute Joins the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness

    The Meat Institute announced it has joined the Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness, expanding its access to food safety best practices and other efforts to prevent foodborne illness on behalf of meat and poultry companies.

    The Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness is a nonprofit program of Stop Foodborne Illness. It brings together consumer advocates, leading companies, and like-minded organizations committed to the goal of preventing foodborne disease. The Alliance comprises 20+ members from around the globe working together to share best practices and advance food safety culture.

    “Our members heard from Christopher George, a Stop Foodborne Illness constituent, at our recent Food Safety Conference in Kansas City,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “His personal testimony about his son nearly dying from contracting E. coli O157:H7 was a powerful reminder of the life-or-death consequences of all we do to protect against foodborne illness.”

    Stop Foodborne Illness works to amplify compelling personal stories, like George’s, about the impact of foodborne illness to motivate people at all levels to do the right thing every day to make food safe. The Meat Institute’s membership in the Alliance will help the Meat Institute collaborate and share best practices which then helps Meat Institute members with continuous improvement and to further establish a culture of food safety at their companies. An example of the important work conducted by the Alliance is its Food Safety Culture Toolkit, a free resource library of video testimonials from impacted consumers, interactive games, and customizable communication and assessment tools.

    This is the latest in a series of tangable initiatives led by the Meat Institute to re-emphasize food safety as a top priority for its members. Earlier this year, a task force was created to build a set of tools and templates for top company executives to use in governing and promoting a food safety culture.

    The Meat Institute will offer programming and training on these tools for senior executives at the “Protein PACT Solutions Summit” in October. To learn more and to register go here.

    The Meat Institute is also working on new industry guidance on Listeria control called the “Foundations of Listeria Control,” to be published later this month.

    Continuing the conversation from the Food Safety Conference, the Meat Institute is offering a Food Safety Exchange Series designed to provide ongoing education and insight on the critical issues shaping food safety.

    In addition, the Meat Institute offers the “Advanced Listeria monocytogenes Intervention & Control Workshop” twice a year with the next held October 22-23, in Kansas City, MO.

    About the Meat Institute
    The Meat Institute represents the full community of people and companies who make the majority of meat American families rely on every day. The Meat Institute’s hands-on regulatory and technical expertise, proactive advocacy, unique convening power, collaboration within and beyond animal agriculture, and sector-leading continuous improvement initiatives drive relationships and resources that ensure meat continues to be a vital, trusted pillar of healthy diets and thriving communities for generations to come. To learn more, visit: MeatInstitute.org.

  • EPA Provides Regulatory Relief to Meat & Poultry Companies

    The Meat Institute applauded President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for stopping costly changes to wastewater regulations that would have closed meat and poultry processing facilities, driving up the cost of food, killing jobs and hurting rural economies.

    “This important decision by Administrator Zeldin ends a regulatory disaster that would have forced meat processing facilities to close, causing food prices to go up and hardship for livestock and poultry producers,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “We are grateful for the swift action of the Trump Administration to put the consumer first and eliminate burdensome regulations that destroy jobs.”

    EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin signed a final action withdrawing proposed revisions to the EPA’s Meat and Poultry Products Effluent Limitations Guidelines (ELG) for wastewater discharged by meat and poultry processing (MPP) and rendering facilities.  Last amended in 2004, the meat and poultry ELGs currently apply to about 180 of the estimated 5,300 meat and poultry facilities nationwide. EPA estimated between 845 and 1,620 facilities would be subject to and incur costs should the proposed ELGs become final.

    To protect small and medium sized meat and poultry processors most likely affected by these changes, the Meat Institute joined the Meat and Poultry Products Industry Coalition which is made up of the Meat Institute, National Chicken Council, National Pork Producers Council, National Turkey Federation, North American Renderers Association and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.

    The Meat and Poultry Products Industry Coalition commissioned an economic impact analysis that found the Agency grossly underestimated the number of facility closures should the proposed guidelines be enacted from the 16 sites in the EPA estimate to 74 sites.

    The projected number of near-term job losses associated with these facility closures would increase from nearly 17,000 that EPA estimates in the proposal to over thirty thousand to nearly 80,000 direct job losses from plant closures.

    The proposed rule would have also harmed the relationship between MPPs and publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs). Indirect discharging MPP facilities often make significant financial investments in maintaining and upgrading the POTW or shouldering major surcharges for the POTW’s continued operation and maintenance, which reduce public treatment costs for residential ratepayers and improve the quality of local and downstream waters.

    “In January, the Meat Institute called on the Trump Administration to roll back onerous regulations that would reduce the upward pressure on the cost of food, said Potts. “Three of those top priorities to protect consumers have been addressed with today’s news demonstrating President Trump’s commitment to ending the damaging and inflationary policies of the Biden Administration.”

    About the Meat Institute
    The Meat Institute represents the full community of people and companies who make the majority of meat American families rely on every day. The Meat Institute’s hands-on regulatory and technical expertise, proactive advocacy, unique convening power, collaboration within and beyond animal agriculture, and sector-leading continuous improvement initiatives drive relationships and resources that ensure meat continues to be a vital, trusted pillar of healthy diets and thriving communities for generations to come. To learn more, visit: MeatInstitute.org.

  • Meat Institute Calls for Processors to be Included in Ag Worker Solutions

    The Meat Institute today called for the processing sector, a critical part of the meat and poultry supply chain, to be included in the Trump Administration’s plans for a stable and legal agriculture workforce.

    “President Trump has an opportunity to solve the agriculture labor crisis that has challenged our farmers and ranchers for decades,” said Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “As reforms are considered, we urge the Trump Administration to include meat and poultry packers and processors in his efforts to improve agriculture worker programs.

    “More than 850,000 hog farmers, cattle ranchers and poultry growers rely on meat packers and processors to market their animals and consumers rely on processors for the nutrient dense meat and poultry they feed to their families.

    “Meat and poultry processors — thousands of small and large companies — keep the rural economy moving by producing the beef, pork and poultry purchased by 98 percent of American households. These companies offer excellent pay with entry-level wages ranging from $16.00-24.00 dollars an hour plus benefits. Our members, together with their suppliers and others in the meat and poultry supply chain need changes to the H-2A visa program and modernization of E-Verify to ensure the processing sector has access to a consistent, year-round, legal workforce.”

    There is strong bi-partisan support for packers and processors to be included in agriculture labor program reforms. In 2023, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) created the bipartisan Agricultural Labor Working Group co-chaired by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ar.) and Rep. Donald Davis (D-NC). Their final report, released in 2024, called for granting year-round industries access to the H-2A program.

    “One thing that has become clear is the need for dairy producers, meat processors, sugar processors, forestry, ranchers, and others to have access to a steady and legal workforce,” the members said in the report.

    About the Meat Institute
    The Meat Institute represents the full community of people and companies who make the majority of meat American families rely on every day. The Meat Institute’s hands-on regulatory and technical expertise, proactive advocacy, unique convening power, collaboration within and beyond animal agriculture, and sector-leading continuous improvement initiatives drive relationships and resources that ensure meat continues to be a vital, trusted pillar of healthy diets and thriving communities for generations to come. To learn more, visit: MeatInstitute.org.