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The Free Range Deception

Definition:
The Free Range Deception: Companies using USDA terminology to trick consumers into thinking their “free range” meat is Organic.

From the USDA website, a company must meet these requirements to label their meat and poultry free range:

“Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.”

I don’t know about you, but I sure expected free range to mean a lot more than that. This post is going to clarify some terms so we can all be better informed consumers.

FREE RANGE or FREE ROAMING:
Producers must demonstrate to the Agency that the poultry has been allowed access to the outside.
(This seems a bit deceptive to me. I wonder if these cows are “free range”)

NATURAL:
A product containing no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed. Minimal processing means that the product was processed in a manner that does not fundamentally alter the product. The label must include a statement explaining the meaning of the term natural (such as "no artificial ingredients; minimally processed").


NO HORMONES (beef):
The term "no hormones administered" may be approved for use on the label of beef products if sufficient documentation is provided to the Agency by the producer showing no hormones have been used in raising the animals.


ORGANIC:
Includes provisions for Livestock feed, Livestock health care practice standard, Livestock living conditions, Pasture practice standard, Organic handling requirements along with many others! Far too much information to list them all, so read it for yourself!

See: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=6c55bf313e472f2c1b2351bd48ef0ff1&rgn=div6&view=text&node=7:3.1.1.9.32.3&idno=7

From the USDA

(not written by TheOrganicHype)

WASHINGTON, Jun. 4, 2012—The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today that organic products certified in the United States or European Union may now be sold as organic in either market, as trade opened up on Friday, June 1, under a new U.S.-EU equivalency partnership. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan signed formal letters creating the partnership in February, along with Dacian Cioloş, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, and Ambassador Isi Siddiqui, U.S. Trade Representative Chief Agricultural Negotiator.

Read the rest of this article: http://organic-hype.blogspot.com/2012/06/organic-expansion-with-us-and-eu.html