Perdue Farms Praised for Joining the Truthful Labeling Coalition

On Monday, the Truthful Labeling Coalition (TLC) applauded Perdue Farms, the United States' third largest producer of poultry products, for joining its ranks.

TLC is an industry and grassroots organization comprising over 30,000 concerned citizens from all 50 states and other leading poultry companies. With the support of leading consumer and health groups, the TLC works to ensure the truthful labeling of fresh chicken products so that consumers can make informed choices.

The TLC has led an aggressive campaign to urge the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enforce its existing labeling rules to allow only all-natural chicken with no additives such as saltwater or seaweed extract be labeled as "100% all natural,". Under current regulations, poultry that contains no more than 15% saltwater or seaweed can still be labeled as 100% all natural because these compounds occur naturally.

What's more, the coalition has championed the requirement that all added ingredients must be prominently displayed on the label while it challenges the USDA's inconsistent and contradictory decisions on "raised without antibiotics" claims made on labels, such as the one concerning the use of the antibiotic ionophore in its product by Tyson Foods, Inc.

Tyson insists that ionophore use should not be grounds for being restricted from calling its poultry "Raised Without Antibiotics", which is a label that the USDA gave approval of, then restricted the company from, but in recent weeks has been reconsidering as ionophores come under reconsideration as to whether or not they should be thought of as antibiotics. Tyson also wants to be allowed to say its products are 100% all-natural.

"Our research has repeatedly shown that qualifying and conditional language only adds clutter and complexity to fresh chicken labels rather than clarity," stated Gold'n Plump's CEO Michael Helgeson.

"Foster Farms is pleased to have Perdue join the coalition," said Ron Foster, chief executive officer of Foster Farms.

"[Perdue's] help in our effort to encourage USDA to put consumers first when making labeling decisions will be vital and we welcome it," said Lampkin Butts, president of Sanderson Farms.

"We are troubled by the USDA's lack of clarity and consistency regarding both the '100% all natural' and 'raised without antibiotics' claims, which is why we decided to lend our support to the TLC's efforts," said Jim Perdue, the third-generation head of privately held Perdue Farms.

Tyson asserts that Margaret Mellon, who is the director of the Food and Environment Program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, has expressed bafflement as to why ionophores would be considered antibiotics when for the last decade they have never been thought of as such.

However, other scientists including Amanda Eamich, spokeswoman for the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA, have gone on record as saying that they are classified as antibiotics because the FDA has always considered them to be antimicrobials-and thus they come under the umbrella of antibiotics.
Ionophores are utilized in the livestock and poultry business to prevent intestinal illness in flocks and herds. The FDA has long considered them harmless to humans and no evidence exists that when used normally they can create a resistance to antibiotics in humans.

The TLC has also targeted Pilgrim's Pride, the United States' largest producer of poultry products, for "inaccurately" using the label "100% all-natural".

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