Food and Nutrition
It's Cool - It's Coming - Country Of Origin Labeling
By
Sep 21, 2008 - 5:10:29 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Congress has passed a law requiring Country Of Origin Labeling – COOL. By the end of September 2008 the law will be fully implemented making all fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, beef (including veal), chicken, goat, lamb, pork, fish and shellfish, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng officially COOL. This law is a great labeling tool for consumers because once you know where the food comes from you can make judgments and decide for yourself if you want to buy products that have logged that many miles.

No law is perfect and the COOL legislation has a good many exclusions and loopholes. But, it is a start and good one at that, providing consumers with a great deal of information that was not available before. The 2002 Farm Bill enacted COOL but it took till early 2005 before the first stage, COOL labeling of fish and shellfish, began. At the end of this month all other covered foods will become COOL.

Under COOL labeling, all fish and shellfish must be labeled for country of origin and method of production -- wild or farm-raised. Prior to COOL this was difficult information to sort out and often the retailer could not answer a customer’s question. Now fish and shellfish suppliers must inform retailers, who in turn must label all seafood clearly at point of purchase.

Herein lies one loophole. All foods covered by COOL must be labeled but retailers are allowed considerable flexibility in how to do this. A label, stamp, band, sticker, twist tie or placard near the item are all acceptable. Fresh produce from more than one country can be placed together in a common bin. Oranges could come from the US or from Chile. Each orange must be labeled if displayed together but you must examine each one if you are trying to eat local and avoid imported produce. Labeling can get even more complicated than that. If hogs are born in Canada and raised or butchered in the US the label for fresh cuts of pork must say “Product of Canada and US.”

Processed foods are not covered by COOL labeling. Under the law a processed food is one in which the food changes its character or is mixed with other foods. Peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts and ginseng in the raw state are COOL. Peanut butter, trail mix, roasted nuts, or candy bars are excluded and will not require country of origin labels. Fresh mushrooms are covered. Dried mushrooms are not. All dried fruits are excluded because the drying process changes the character of the food. Sliced, trimmed, and chopped fresh and frozen plain fruits and vegetables are covered. But a fresh salad with many ingredients is not. And, frozen broccoli with cheese sauce is not.

Frying, broiling, steaming, baking and roasting all exclude food, as does smoking and salt and sugar curing or drying. Fresh pork loins are COOL. Teriyaki pork is not. Fresh chicken cutlets are COOL. Marinated chicken breasts are not. Fresh and frozen okra is COOL. Breaded frozen okra is not.

Food services – restaurants, cafeterias, lunch rooms, food stands, bars, lounges – anyone selling food to the public, are excluded from COOL regulations. If a food retailer has a salad bar or take-out counter, even though the store is required to COOL label, the prepared food service is not.

COOL regulations require US homegrown foods to be labeled too. US country of origin requires animals to be born, raised and slaughtered in the US. Fruits, vegetables, and nuts must be grown in the US. Many states already proudly display state or regional label designations. COOL allows these to continue and replace general US labeling. Examples of locally acceptable substitutes include: Pride of New York, Jersey Fresh, Vermont Seal of Quality, Ohio Proud, and New Mexico Grown with Tradition.

If you go to your local butcher shop, fish store or greengrocer and you do not see COOL labels, it might be because of a loophole. Retailers are defined as those that who sell more than $230,000 of perishable commodities a year. COOL applies mainly to grocery stores and supermarkets, allowing some smaller retailers to be exempt.

COOL regulations are not perfect. But, in our global economy with more and more of our foods being grown in foreign countries, it gives us, the average shopper, a tool to make choices. We can avoid countries we do not wish to support. We can make decisions about eating locally. We have gained a measure of control over what we decide to put in our grocery cart. And, if the information is not available we have the right to complain. Shop COOL.

© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with 12 current titles and sales in excess of 7 million books. The books are widely available at your local or on-line bookseller.

Current titles include:
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
The Cholesterol Counter, 7th Ed., 2008
The Diabetes Carbohydrate and Calorie Counter, 3rd Ed., 2007
The Calorie Counter, 4th Ed., 2007
The Compete Food Counter, 2nd Ed., 2006
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to www.TheNutritionExperts.com.

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