Evolving Sustainable Labels

Your Guide to the Labels on Meat, Poultry, Dairy and Fish

Among a growing array of marketing claims, how to distinguish meaningful labels from those that are not? There should be a verification system in place: It could be your getting assurances from the farmer or that the label is third-party certified. Here's some information on the labels you will find:

• "Free range," "Raised without antibiotics/hormones" or "No antibiotics/hormones administered" labels may be used by producers with USDA approval, but these claims are not verified by inspections of farms or tests for residues in meats. (Federal law prohibits hormone treatments in poultry and pork.)
  
  
• "Grass Fed" cows are ideally raised on only pasture and stored grasses, but this claim is not guaranteed by certification. True: grass-fed beef is lower in E. coli and saturated fat than typical corn-fed meat. For suppliers: see our Meat and Poultry & Eggs product reports.
  
  
• "Natural" meat or poultry must be minimally processed without any artificial flavors, colors or preservatives, but this is "perhaps the most misleading" claim, since the USDA does not exclude meats raised using hormones or antibiotics, says Jessica Nelson of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
  
  
• "Free Farmed" meat, poultry and eggs are raised with adequate space and comfort, without the use of hormones or unnecessary antibiotics. The claim is verified by third-party inspectors (www.freefarmed.org).
  
  
• "The Food Alliance Approved" meats and poultry were raised on farms that preserve soil and water quality, with access to fresh air, pasture and without hormones or unnecessary antibiotics. Verified by third-party inspectors (www.thefoodalliance.org).
  
  
• The Marine Stewardship Council certifies well-managed fisheries with healthy populations that are captured without damaging ocean ecosystems (www.msc.org).
  
  
• EcoFish and Pigeon Cove Seafood, while not third-party certified, say that they sell only fish farmed or caught in ecologically benign ways. EcoFish is available nationwide; Pigeon Cove Seafood is found at Whole Foods and Bread & Circus in the Northeast (877-214-FISH, www.ecofish.com; 603-430-0101).

For more information, visit Consumer Union's www.eco-labels.org or the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy's www.iatp.org/eatwell.