Washington and the USDA just passed the COOL bill – Country of Origin Labeling -which requires food producers to identify where your produce and meat were grown. Just in time to allay the Chinese milk, Mexican peppers and California spinach fears. But, like all other legislation these days, there are plenty of loopholes.
"It will be a very good thing because we'll have a lot more information," said Jean Halloran of Consumers Union. But, "you can still be fooled by the COOL label."
How? The labeling rule doesn't apply to processed foods that have been cooked or altered in any way. For example, raw pork chops apply but not smoked bacon. Even bagged salad mixes with more than one ingredient may or may not have the COOL label. Glaringly large loopholes if you ask me, but it's at least a start.
One advantage: it will be easier to identify locally grown produce.
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This article appears in Sep 24-30, 2008.