Despite protests from a coalition of the major food associations, the US Department of Agriculture has laid out the specifics for its mandatory country of origin labelling (COOL) programme.
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The proposed rule identifies what products fall under the law and who is responsible for fulfilling them, with most cuts of meat and variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts and dairy products required to carry a “United States country of origin” declaration at the retail level.
Most processed foods and all restaurant meals are exempt. Also, under the legislation, country of origin labels for fish and shellfish would have to distinguish between wild and farm-raised products.
