Consumers shopping for steak and other whole cuts of beef will have to wait for another three years to get meat safety labels on meat products after the US government failed to meet the deadline for finalising regulations.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been working on new mandatory labels for mechanically tenderized beef.
However, the labels needed to be finalised by USDA and White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before the end of 2014 for implementation by 2016.
As per the new labelling rule, manufacturers will need to provide cooking instructions for the meat on packages.
Owing to the agencies' failure to meet the deadline, the earliest that consumers will be able to see labels on mechanically tenderized beef in grocery stores is 2018 as new labelling laws are implemented in two-year increments to help manufacturers.
Food Safety News quoted director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America Christopher Waldrop as saying: "It's extremely disappointing because consumers are going to be at risk from this product for much longer than they need to be. The delay was totally unnecessary."
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had first proposed the labelling for mechanically tenderised meat in June 2013 as it was noticed that consumers weren't cooking the meat properly to eliminate pathogens.
As meat is tenderised with knives and needles, it can drive bacteria inside the products.
Recently, a series of foodborne illnesses have been connected to mechanically tenderised beef, including the 2012 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 in Canada from XL Foods, which led to the largest beef recall in Canadian history.
Image: Meat products labeling in the US will be delayed by atleast three years. Photo: courtesy of rakratchada torsap/freedigitalphotos.net.
