© 2026 ABC News

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said consumers should be able to trust what they infer when picking a product with a USDA mark of inspection.

He added that the USDA is taking the new steps \"to ensure the integrity of animal-raising claims and level the playing field for producers who are truthfully using these claims, which we know consumers value and rely on to guide their meat and poultry purchasing decisions.\"

\"PHOTO:
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
PHOTO: Various meats are seen at Lincoln Market, June 12, 2023 in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
>

The agency said in a press release that it has \"received several petitions, comments, and letters from a wide range of stakeholders asking the agency to reevaluate its oversight of animal-raising claims, specifically, how they are substantiated.\" That also applies to the accuracy of \"'negative' antibiotics claims\" such as \"raised without antibiotics\" or \"no antibiotics ever.\"

In partnership with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, the Food Safety and Inspection Service will start \"a sampling project to assess antibiotic residues in cattle destined for the 'raised without antibiotics' market,\" to help inform whether FSIS should require that laboratory testing results be submitted for that claim or start a new verification sampling program.

The FSIS will also issue a new industry guideline for companies to strengthen any documentation they submit to the agency to further substantiate those animal-raising claims.

The agency said it also plans to \"strongly encourage use of third-party certification to verify these claims.\"

This action comes on the heels of other efforts from the USDA to protect consumers from false or misleading labels as part of President Joe Biden’s executive order on promoting competition in the American economy.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Food/usda-revise-meat-labeling-guidelines-claims-grass-fed/story?id=100100101","legacySlug":"/food/story/usda-revise-meat-labeling-guidelines-claims-grass-fed-100100101","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"12:32","publishDate":"06-15-2023","updatedTime":"12:32","updatedDate":"06-15-2023","socialImage":{"alt":"Various meats are seen at Lincoln Market, June 12, 2023 in the Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.","credit":"Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/price-grocery-store-gty-moe-004-230613_1686747991712_hpMain_2_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"6/15/2023 12:32:14 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":100100101,"headline":"USDA may strengthen meat, poultry labeling policy","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA USDA FOOD LABELING","description":"The agency will look to revise its guidelines for meat producers. ","duration":"1:05","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2023/06/230615_gma_reshef_805_central_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["65558073","100100544","133825350"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"video","date":"September 12, 2019","headline":"New grading system helps consumers understand food labels","section":"food","slug":"/video/65558073","id":65558073,"image":{"alt":"New grading system helps consumers understand food labels","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/190912_gma_roberts1_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"June 15, 2023","headline":"USDA to crack down on labeling of meat","section":"food","slug":"/video/100100544","id":100100544,"image":{"alt":"USDA to crack down on labeling of meat","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/230615_gma_reshef1_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"June 12, 2026","headline":"Judge rejects legal effort to cancel White House's UFC event","section":"news","slug":"/video/133825350","id":133825350,"image":{"alt":"Judge rejects legal effort to cancel White House's UFC event","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/260612_abcnl_2p_ufc_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"USDA may strengthen meat, poultry labeling policy","description":"The agency will look to revise its guidelines for meat producers. ","duration":"1:05","uploadDate":"06-15-2023","publication":"06-15-2023","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2023/06/230615_gma_reshef_805_central_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2023/06/230615_gma_reshef_805_central_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/food/story/usda-revise-meat-labeling-guidelines-claims-grass-fed-100100101"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:food:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"food","title":"USDA may strengthen meat, poultry labeling policy","pubTime":"08:32","pubDate":"06-15-2023","modTime":"08:32","modDate":"06-15-2023","taxonomyTags":"none","id":100100101,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"USDA may strengthen meat, poultry labeling policy","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA USDA FOOD LABELING","videoId":100100101,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/food/story/usda-revise-meat-labeling-guidelines-claims-grass-fed-100100101"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/100100101","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/100100101","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};