More and more voices in the livestock industry are calling for a return to country of origin labeling.
They are not, however, calling for a mandated label.
The Idaho Cattle Association says that those mandates incur costs that seem to trickle down to producers. At the same time, they have an emphasis on transparency with the customers.
When a product, like beef, has a label it adds value, with the story behind the label supporting the price.
According to Cameron Mulrony, the Association’s Executive VP, “We are supportive of COOL options, not mandatory COOL options, but COOL options that are producer-driven and create value in our food chain. I think that’s good for the entire beef industry... If you remember back, if you read that label it said, ‘This could be a product of...’ and it listed every nation that could be in a hamburger. That didn’t seem to be beneficial.”
He says that consumers are responding positively to beef products with COOL options and that view is supported by the emergence of many niche markets within the beef industry.
Related:
Sen. Fischer talks COOL with Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack