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that implementing the proposed label changes will in fact
benefit consumers. These comments demonstrate that there is
interest by certain U.S. consumers in information disclosing the
countries of birth, raising, and slaughter on muscle cut product
labels. Specifying the production step occurring in each
country listed on meat labels and eliminating the commingling
flexibility as required by this final rule will benefit
consumers by providing them with more specific information on
which to base their purchasing decisions. The Agency does not
agree that this rule will negatively impact the value of premium
source-verified programs. The 2009 COOL regulations already
differentiate covered muscle cut commodities based on origin.
This final rule ensures that the labels will provide the
consumers more specific information. Premium source-verified
programs are thereby unaffected by this rule.
The Agency acknowledges that an empirical finding of a
change in demand due to COOL would support the conclusion that
consumers act on the information provided through COOL.
Conversely, however, the Agency does not concur that an
empirical finding of no change in demand implies that consumers
do not value the information or that there are no benefits from
providing the information; it may instead imply that the
economic benefits are positive but too small to be measurable in
a general-population study. The purpose of COOL is to provide
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