Related Stories
Hormel Lawsuit Reveals What Natural Meat Really Means
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Bloomberg
Posted: April 22nd, 2019
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/hormel-ad...
American shoppers are reaching for healthier, more environmentally and animal-friendly meat products, with 39 percent saying all-natural is the most important claim when purchasing red meat. But theres one problem: The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that when it comes to meat and poultry, the term natural means only that the product has no artificial ingredients and has been minimally processed. It doesnt mean anything when it comes to antibiotics, hormones or preservatives. Companies such as Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrims Pride Corp. and Hormel Foods Corp. have been snapping up smaller, outwardly progressive competitors. At the same time, however, some of the major meat companies have been offering their own products as natural, replete with labels featuring blue skies and green fields. On April 8, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia - a jurisdiction with stringent consumer protection laws - dismissed a lawsuit by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) alleging Hormel was misleading consumers. The court held that as long as manufacturer labels are approved by the USDA, the advertising can use the natural claims. In statements disclosed in the filing, a company executive said the same pigs it uses to make its famous Spam brand meat product are also used in Natural Choice pork products. Those pigs are often given antibiotics and are rarely allowed outdoors. Its a massive attempt to manipulate and dupe the consumer, said David Muraskin, a food project attorney.
Note: For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing food system corruption news articles from reliable major media sources.