USDA to require safety labels for tenderized beef

WASHINGTON — With the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) new labeling requirements for mechanically tenderized beef products, restaurants and other foodservice facilities will now have more information about the products they are buying, as well as cooking instructions on how to safely prepare them.

“Labeling mechanically tenderized beef products and including cooking instructions on the package are important steps in helping consumers to safely prepare these products,” said Deputy Undersecretary Al Almanza in a prepared statement. “This common sense change will lead to safer meals and fewer foodborne illnesses.”

In the last 15 years, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been six outbreaks of illness linked to mechanically tenderized beef. FSIS predicts that the new labels and cooking instructions could prevent hundreds of illnesses annually.

Meat industry officials say they have worked to make tenderized products safer over the years, and they don't think they need to be labeled, as reported by U.S. News & World Report.

But the North American Meat Institute's Barry Carpenter said USDA worked with the industry on the rules, which were initially proposed in 2013, and they will work to put them in place, according to U.S. News.

"We are confident in the safety of products that are mechanically tenderized to increase tenderness, a trait that consumers desire in meat products," Carpenter said.

The new requirements will take effect in May 2016.