DENVER—Meat processors and retailers interviewed at the Annual Meat Conference last week gave a cool reception to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s request that they go beyond the legal requirements for the mandatory country of origin labeling rules (COOL), reported Meatingplace.
Vilsack asked processors to label separately the countries an animal was born, raised and slaughtered in; to label some further-processed meat products excluded by the law; and to narrow a label change window on ground meat to 10 days from the 60 days allowed by law.
"We don't know if he is trying to pick a fight or what," said one meat industry executive who asked not to be named.
