Court Upholds USDA Meat Label Regulation

by Long Island Attorney Paul A. Lauto, Esq.

The meat industry has enaged in the longstanding practice of commingling meat parts from different animals and even from different countries, before packaging the meat for sale.  This practice has been regularly performed without any label notice to consumers.

To its credit, the USDA passed a regulation known as COOL, that requires meat producers to list the meat's country of origin on the label.  The regulation also requires that the label list where the animal was born, raised and slaughtered, if these locations are from different countries, as is often the case.  

In that the meat industry was apparently adverse to complying with COOL and  the consumer's right to know, they brought suit against the USDA.  Eight groups led by the American Meat Institute, filed suit claiming that the regulation violated the meat industry's First Amendment free speech rights.  The meat industry argued, that "Because there is no legitimate justification for the new 'Born, Raised, and Slaughtered' regime, and because these new rules will impose significant burdens on and radically restructure the way meat is produced and packaged in this country, defendants' COOL regulations violate the First Amendment, which prohibits compelled-speech regimes in the absence of a substantial government interest." 

Read the full article at www.liattorney.com/scales-of-justice.html