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There is an interesting article about the Naturally Raised issue in the Desmoines Register:

Outrage hits ‘naturally raised’ USDA meat labeling plan
By Philip Brasher

Washington, D.C. — Meat that’s labeled “naturally raised” could be coming to supermarkets alongside “natural” meat.

The U.S. Agriculture Department already allows meat to be called “natural” so long as it’s minimally processed and doesn’t contain artificial ingredients.

Now, the Agriculture Department is proposing to let packers label beef, pork or lamb as “naturally raised,” so long as the livestock were never given antibiotics or synthetic hormones or fed any animal by-products. USDA officials say the new labeling would give shoppers more choices in the meat case.

But the proposal, which has drawn 44,000 mostly negative comments, has outraged consumer advocates and many livestock producers, who say the rules don’t go far enough because livestock could still be kept in conventional confinement operations and qualify for the new label. Meatpackers themselves are divided over whether the new labeling is a good idea. At least one company fears the label would make conventional products look bad.

Paul Willis of Thornton, who manages a network of farmers who supply what they consider naturally raised hogs to Niman Ranch Pork Co., called the rules a “travesty,” saying they don’t go far enough.

Niman Ranch hogs are raised outdoors rather than in conventional confinement operations, and without antibiotics and added hormones. Niman Ranch believes the labeling rules should prohibit sows from being kept in crates, a common practice in conventional swine operations to prevent fighting among the hogs.

” ‘Naturally raised’ has to distinguish how the animals are raised and what their environment is,” Willis said. “A pig has to have bedding and be able to socialize and things like that.”

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, a group that fights large-scale livestock farming in the state, said the USDA’s proposed standards “fall far short of what consumers and farmers who care about how their feed is produced believe ‘naturally raised’ does and should mean.”

Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, told the USDA the new label “falls significantly short of consumer expectations.”

One of the nation’s largest pork processors, Hormel Foods Corp., doesn’t like the rules either.

Meat that doesn’t qualify as naturally raised “will appear to be somehow ‘unnatural,’ ” said Phillip Minerich, vice president of research development for Hormel, based in Austin, Minn.

He also questioned whether the USDA has the legal authority to define the term “naturally raised” and said the rules could run afoul of international trade agreements.

Kerry Smith, an official with the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, said consumers “will know if they see naturally raised livestock (on a meat label) what it means.”

Smith said the department developed the proposal in response to requests from the meat industry and after holding a series of public meetings.

“We proposed the standard based on the information we received,” she said.

The term “natural” can continue to be used under the existing rules: minimal processing and no artificial ingredients. That description applies to virtually any fresh or frozen cut of meat. So a package of meat could be labeled “natural” but not “naturally raised.” She said it would be up to the food industry to educate consumers about the difference.

Consumers have been taking an increased interest in how their food is produced, as shown by the double-digit growth of the organic industry for more than a decade. Sales of organic food totaled almost $17 billion in 2006, or nearly 3 percent of overall food sales, according to the Organic Trade Association. USDA economists said a majority of Americans now eat organic food at least occasionally.

Tyson Foods, the nation’s largest beef processor, told the USDA that the department’s definition would make it clear to consumers what the term “naturally raised” means. When the company surveyed 1,600 consumers last year, no single definition for naturally raised was cited by a majority of the respondents cited.

The organic food industry doesn’t like the USDA rules either, arguing like Hormel, that the department exceeded its legal authority in coming up with the definition.

The USDA’s standards for organic meat require that the livestock be fed organic feed and have access to the outdoors. Antibiotics and synthetic hormones also are prohibited.

“I’m not opposed to a natural label, but I think it should include how the animals are raised as well as how they’re fed,” said Ron Rosmann, an organic farmer from Harlan.

Smith said the USDA hopes to finalize the rules this fall.
-Desmoines Register