US beef labels may hide imported meat in holiday burgers

Under the decade-old Country of Origin Labeling law, retailers are not obligated to specify the provenance of beef, meaning a package marked “USA” may still contain foreign trimmings blended with domestic meat. The USDA explains that most U.S. beef imports consist of boneless manufacturing scraps used to balance lean-to-fat ratios in ground products. Recent food-safety incidents, from a cyclospora outbreak in lettuce to contaminated produce, have heightened shopper concern.

A temporary 90-day suspension of beef tariffs, announced by Trump, has led to record-low sales for some American ranchers. Shawn Harris, a first-generation grass-fed cattle farmer in Rockmart, Georgia, predicts that imported beef from Brazil or Argentina could soon fill grocery aisles, though he says it has not yet arrived for the holiday. He is calling on legislators to require explicit country-of-origin labels so consumers can choose between domestic and foreign beef.