Advocacy Groups File Letter in Opposition to Meat Labeling Petition

The Good Food Institute (GFI), with a group of plant-based and “clean” meat companies, has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) responding to a petition filed by the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association requesting that the agency restrict the definitions of “beef” and “meat” to products derived from live animals. GFI argues that USDA cannot grant the petition because the agency lacks authority over plant-based products, which are governed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. USDA is “authorized only to regulate meat labels to protect the health and welfare of consumers, not to prop up an industry or favor one production method over another,” the group asserts.

In addition, the group argues that plant-based or clean meat product labels that “clearly and accurately disclose the nature of the product” do not violate the labeling requirements of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act or the Federal Meat Inspection Act. The government can restrict commercial speech, such as limiting particular labeling language, only when the restriction “directly advances a substantial government interest,” the group argues. “Privileging one sector of an industry over another does not qualify.”

Finally, GFI asserts that the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association puts USDA in “the untenable position of policing the methods of meat production for ‘traditionality’” by urging USDA to limit the definition of “beef,” potentially diverting the agency’s resources from food safety and inhibiting industry innovation in production methods.