Food Safety: - National Meat Association

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Category A and C, you can label the
product under Category C and u.S.
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All exporters are advised that if products
are exported to any market, including
Canada and Mexico, containing a label
that indicates multiple countries of origin
there is an extremely high risk of product
rejection. For clarity, exporters should
continue to label products for export
with a country of origin designation of
“Product of u.S.A.”
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it’s important to
remember that
COOL covers
only retail,
unprocessed
products.
A processed food item, which is exempt
from the rule, is defined in the rule as
16 www.nmaonline.org
“a retail item derived from a covered
commodity that has undergone specific
processing resulting in a change in the
character of the covered commodity,
or that has been combined with at
least one of the covered commodity or
other substantive food component (e.g.,
chocolate, breading, tomato sauce),
except that the addition of a component
(such as water, salt, or sugar) that
enhances or represents a further step
in the preparation of the product for
consumption, would not in itself result
in a processed food item.”
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And the
number one
thing to know
about COOL
is where to
get your questions answered: AMS
will answer questions e-mailed to
cool@usda.gov. And the National Meat
Association (NMA) is ready to answer
questions at our emergency hotline,
24-hours a day, 7 days a week: (510)
763-1533. ❙
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To ease the transition
and alleviate
confusion, the united
States Department of
Agriculture (USDA)
has an official
partnership with
state departments
of agriculture to
assist with COOL
retail surveillance
responsibilities.