The U.S. government only inspects about one percent of imported fish, produce and processed foods.

Our food is increasingly coming from places with weaker food safety, water quality, pesticide and labor standards than the United States.  Most consumers don’t realize that meat bearing a USDA stamp could have been produced abroad, in plants not visited by USDA meat inspectors.

Origin labels are all over clothing and other products so why not on food? You will finally see them on some foods soon, when country-of-origin labeling – known as “COOL” – becomes required for red meat, chicken, goat, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, peanuts, pecans, macadamia nuts, and ginseng.  

It’s been a long, hard fight to get labeling on our food.  And if grocery store chains, large food processors and other agribusinesses got their way, consumers would remain in the dark. They don’t want you to know that tomatoes, peppers and other fruits and vegetables are being imported from Mexico and Chile; that meat is coming from Brazil and Argentina; and that garlic, apples and even poultry are being shipped from China when all these foods could have been produced in the country.

What You Can Do

• Take Action: While the new labeling requirement is a great victory, the USDA's plan includes broad exemptions for 'processed' foods, minimally processed foods such as roasted nuts, frozen vegetables, and smoked bacon - all of which will not have to be labeled with their country of origin.   Tell the USDA to fix the rules for COOL!

• Find out how much labels really tell you.
  
• Be prepared next time you grocery shop.
• Get help with our other consumer tools.

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