COOL Rule Upheld

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld COOL this week, the mandatory country of origin labeling for meat that will tell consumers where the animals providing the meat were born, raised and slaughtered. Those within the livestock industry have been divided over the rule with some saying that COOL will create more problems for their industry and increase costs for processors, retailers and consumers, while others support the new rule stating that it will bring the U.S. into compliance with the global trade body. COOL will require that each production step of the animal be printed on the labels of muscle cuts of meat, and will also stop the packaging facility practice of mixing together livestock from multiple countries and labeling the meat from those with the same label. James H. Hodges, interim president for the American Meat Institute, says the group maintains that “the country of origin rule harms livestock producers and the industry and affords little benefit to consumers”. It remains to be seen whether the group will now appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.