Myths about Super Chicken

Lately, I’ve been seeing some stories about how unnaturally large and overgrown chickens are. People see how much bigger chickens are today compared to 50 years ago, and they question what farmers and poultry companies are doing to get them that way. So, I thought I would write a post addressing some of the myths about Super Chicken.

MYTH: Chickens are given steroids and/or hormones to make them so big.

First, it has been against Federal Regulations to give chickens steroids or hormones since the 1950’s. You may remember that from my previous post about food labels. In addition to being unlawful, steroid hormones don’t work well through feed or water, so farmers would have to inject the birds to get the effects of the hormones. Most chicken farmers have 50,000 birds or more. It would take a long time to give that many shots.

Poultry scientists have studied bird nutrition for many years and learned the optimal diet for raising chickens quickly and efficiently. The diets are balanced with the exact about of carbs, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals the chickens need at their specific phase of growth. The birds have access to feed at all times, and all this attention paid to their dietary needs helps them grow fast.

MYTH: Chickens are loaded up on antibiotics to make them grow.

Most large poultry farmers raise their birds with minimal to no antibiotics in the feed and water. They have learned to control disease with sanitation and proactive feed ingredients like probiotics and essential oils. If a farmer needs give their birds antibiotics when they are sick or to help keep them from getting sick, they work with a veterinarian to determine the best medicine for their flock. Farmers predominantly use types of antibiotics that are not used in human medicine to treat sickness.

It is important to remember that, regardless of whether or not antibiotics were used in raising your chicken, there are no antibiotics in your chicken meat. All animals must go through a withdrawal time after they are given antibiotics, allowing their bodies time to metabolize the medicine and clear it from their system.

MYTH: Chickens are genetically engineered to be big and have large breasts. 

Chickens are not genetically modified or GMOs. Traditionally, farmers kept the biggest and the best hens (momma chickens) and mated them with the biggest and the best roosters (daddy chickens) and produced bigger and better chicks. Today in the poultry industry, those best-on-best mating decisions are made by scientists with pages of data about the birds. They can select new generations of chickens and emphasize any number of traits from growth and breast size to health and bone strength. Couple that with the fact that a farmer can produce a new generation of chicken in a much shorter time than a cow or a pig, and changes in the chicken industry have happened very quickly.

MYTH: Chickens are raised in cages to make them grow.

The inside of a chicken house.

Birds raised for chicken meat are kept in large open houses and allowed to roam freely. To protect the birds’ health, the houses are closed and protected from the outside environment, but the birds have lots of room to wander wherever they wish. They are kept warm in the winter and cool in the summer. There is food and water available all throughout the house. When you visit a chicken house, the birds are quiet and happy.

Do you have more questions about chicken myths?

There is more great info on the website, Chicken Check In. Or you can follow chicken farmers on social media.

I don’t have many chicken posts, but you can check out my post from the Moms at the Poultry Counter on white striping in chicken, or see my hormone or antibiotic posts. I also have one recipe post with chicken, Grannie Annie’s Pozole.

As always, please feel free to ask questions in the comments below. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll find someone who does.

The antibiotic age

Last month, I attended the Alltech ONE ideas conference. Alltech is a global company that produces lots of different products that may be used in many segments of agriculture. Every year, they host a group of bloggers to their conference and ask us to write about what we learned. This was my fourth year to attend, and I would love for you to see what I’ve learned at previous Alltech conferences.

This year, several of the sessions I attended covered the topic of antibiotics. Alltech is a forward-thinking company that is working to reduce the use of antibiotics in food production. They offer feed supplements that farmers can use to keep their animals healthy and productive rather than using antibiotics.

There were also several discussions about sustainable energy and the use of fossil fuels. During one of those discussions, the speaker, Ramez Naam, shared a quote from a former oil minister of Saudi Arabia.

He said, “The stone age came to an end, not because we had a lack of stones, and the oil age will come to an end not because we have a lack of oil.”

That discussion was about oil and energy, but I think that the premise can be applied to antibiotics.

Agriculture has changed a great deal in the past 6 decades. Our population is growing at a staggering rate, and farmers have had to adapt to meet the demands for food in our world. Getting to this point in agriculture has taken lots of tools and one of those tools has been and still is antibiotics.

I have written about antibiotics before. People have trouble understanding the use of antibiotics in food production; the fact that some bacteria adapt to become resistant to them, and that farmers use antibiotics to help keep their animals healthy and are careful to treat their animals in such a way that antibiotic residues don’t end up in our meat. Farmers and consumers have concerns about bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, and, in food production, antibiotics are at the front of everyone’s mind.

We have to remember that the Stone Age didn’t end overnight. People slowly figured out new and more efficient ways of doing things. They found new materials and new ways to use old materials. Then, their ideas spread around the world.

We can’t expect the use of antibiotics to end overnight either, but things are happening quickly. Farmers are using a whole-systems approach to improve animal health. Meanwhile, animal scientists are figuring out new ways to help farmers produce healthier animals without the use of antibiotics or with a vastly reduced use of antibiotics.

At the conference, Dr. Aiden Connolly, talked about several ways that animals may be managed to help reduce or eliminate the use of antibiotics.

Genetics: Everyone has that friend who never gets sick. The same happens in the animal world. Some animals are just better at fighting disease on their own. Now, we have the ability to find those specific genes in animals and select for them. By breeding the healthiest females to the healthiest males, and eliminating the more sickly ones, fewer animals will get sick and fewer will need antibiotics.

Biosecurity – health management: In a previous post about antibiotics, I jokingly mentioned that you can’t teach pigs to wash their hooves, but we can manage the humans and the equipment going in and out of farms to keep disease from spreading.

In April, I went to two pig farms in one day, and I took four showers that day. On modern swine and sometimes poultry farms, humans are required to shower in and shower out. That means you take a shower, and only wear clothes that belong to the farm. Even underwear (TMI, sorry). Other precautions included washing the vehicles that we drove every time we entered a new farm, keeping wildlife away, and limiting visitors.

Sanitation and reduced contamination will reduce the exposure of animals to bacteria that cause disease, and will reduce the need to treat those animals with antibiotics.

Nutrition: Keeping animals well-fed and healthy will help their bodies naturally fight disease. Scientists are also learning how to create an environment in the animal that promotes health and fights bacteria without antibiotics.

Gut health and the Microbiome: Last year I wrote a post about the human microbiome, but animals each have their own microbiome. Dr. Stephen Collett, from the University of Georgia, spoke at the conference and he said that when we choose animals for breeding, we are not only selecting their genetics, but also their microbiome. Mothers pass their healthy bacteria to their babies, and all animals share it in their barns, pens, and fields.

The interactive effect of a healthy gut and nutrition is so important. Farmers are learning to feed the good bacteria to fight the bad ones. Dr. Collett said, “We can’t win the war on disease by killing, we have to win by multiplying. We have to nurture what we want.” Using nutrition to feed the healthy bacteria will lessen the need for antibiotics to fight the bad bacteria.

The day after the conference, I watched a webinar by some animal scientists from Texas A&M. They spoke about bacteriophages, viruses that kill specific bacteria. They exist everywhere in nature. Some animals naturally carry them in their guts to help them fight bacteria that might make them sick. Obviously, bacteriophages are part of the microbiome. Scientists are learning more about them and how they can help fight bacteria every day. 

Keep moving forward.

Farmers and scientists are adapting every day to how we fight disease and pathogens in food animals. With every new break through, we have another tool in our toolbox to fight dangerous bacteria. One of the exciting things about working in the food industry is that it is constantly changing.

There is no way our industry is ready to completely stop using antibiotics, but we are finding ways to use fewer antibiotics all the time. The whole industry will continue to keep moving forward to a new age of total animal health. 

The founder and CEO of Alltech, Dr. Pearse Lyons, has a great quote that I think can be applied to the transition away from antibiotics, “Don’t get it right. Get it going.” Changing the tools we use to produce food for 9 billion people is not going to be easy, but we have to keep moving forward. Get it going.

You will never be lonely again ~ a Meathead’s take on the Microbiome

I was invited again this year to attend the Alltech Symposia to learn about new and emerging technologies in agriculture and food production. Alltech is a global food and Ag company that produces feed ingredients and supplements for all parts of agriculture including cattle, swine, fisheries, equine and crops. They view agriculture as a whole food system, and are very interested in tackling global health issues with solutions applied to food and crops.

One of the most interesting sessions I attended covered the Microbiome, led by Dr. Rowan Power, an Alltech scientist.

He said that we used to say, “You are what you eat.”

But now, he says, “You really are what 100 trillion and one of you eat.”

Each person plays host to about 100 trillion bacteria (that doesn’t even count fungi and viruses). These bacteria live on and in your body, including on your skin, in your nose, mouth and eyes, in your lungs, and, of course, in your digestive tract. Over 1,000 species of bacteria live in your intestine, mostly your lower intestine. Yummy.

A few more facts about your microbiome:

• Bacterial cells out number human cells 10 to 1
• The microbiome comprises 1 to 3% of your body mass (that’s 2 to 6 lbs on a 200 lbs person)
• The total microbiome may consist of 10,000 species
• The bacteria in our gut allow us to digest foods
• The number and variation of the bacteria will vary from person to person

Microbes and weight loss

Doesn’t everyone have that one friend who can just think about going on a diet and lose 5 pounds? Scientists like Dr. Power are finding that the way our bodies react to changes in what we eat is largely dependent on the bacteria in our gut. What we eat is not as important as what the bacteria in our gut do with the food we eat.

In one study, scientists removed the gut bacteria from some lean mice and introduced it to mice that were completely germ free.  They did the same with bacteria from obese mice. The mice that were given bacteria from the lean mice became lean, and those given the obese mice bacteria became obese. So, the bacteria in your gut may have an impact on how lean or obese you become.

Dr. Power also said that when scientists looked at the bacteria in lean people, there was more variation in the bacteria in their guts than in obese people. People with more variation in their diets had more variable bacteria to digest their food and were leaner. (Makes me second guess my oh-so-consistent breakfast routine.)

Microbes and feelings

You know how some foods make you feel so good? Most neurotransmitters (the chemicals that send signals within and from our brain) are derived from nutritional factors. So, the way our microbiome breaks down food can actually affect how good we feel. Get me some happy bacteria!

How do we change our microbiome?

The microbiome will change based on what you feed it. If you eat a diet of fat and sugars, your microbiome will adjust to digest fat and sugar. If you eat more leafy greens and vegetables, the bacteria will change to digest those. So, the more variety in your diet, the more variety in your microbiome.

Medicines like antibiotics can also change your microbiome. Everyone has been a little sick to their stomach after taking antibiotics (or you’ve had a sick child that has developed a nasty diaper rash after being on antibiotics). Even the bacteria on your skin can be affected by antibiotics. This is why doctors suggest that you eat yogurt after you’ve had to take antibiotics. Yogurt is full of healthy bacteria and you need to re-populate your gut with healthy bacteria after you’ve had antibiotics.

Scientists are figuring out new ways to alter the microbiome in humans and animals all the time. There are foods and supplements that can encourage the growth of good bacteria and discourage the growth of bad bacteria. Of course, we all know the benefits of eating yogurt and drinking acidophilus milk. Cattle farmers have been using feed additives called ionophores to optimize the microbiome in their stomachs and help cattle digest feed more efficiently for years.

Dr. Power said that pretty soon, human health efforts will encompass care for the human as well as care for the microorganisms that live on and within the human. We may be able to treat chronic diseases in humans by treating and altering the bacteria that live within them.

Personally, I am excited about this emerging science in microbiology. I think it will be neat to see the medicine and treatments for diseases like Krohns and diabetes that might emerge from our new understanding of the microbiome.

What’s in a food label? Antibiotic free

This summer I started a blog series on food labels. I’ve covered labels you see on meat products like Organic, Natural, Grass-fed, and Raised without Hormones.

Another claim you commonly see with ‘Raised without Hormones’ is ‘Raised without Antibiotics,’ ‘No Antibiotics Added’ or ‘Antibiotic Free.’



About two years ago I wrote a blog post about why antibiotics are used and Antibiotic Residues and Antibiotic Resistance. I’m not going to get into those topics in this post, just stick to the labels.

First, let me address Antibiotic Free.

Just like the similar label concerning hormones, the ‘Antibiotic Free’ claim is misleading and shouldn’t be found on a meat label. You may see it on some marketing claims that are not regulated by USDA, though.

All of the meat you buy in the US should be Antibiotic Free. Even if the farmer used antibiotics, those antibiotics shouldn’t be in the meat because the FDA regulates how antibiotics are administered to animals. The time when the farmer must stop using antibiotics before the animal is harvested is known as the withdrawal time. Those times differ between types of antibiotics and the species of animal, and they are explained on the antibiotic label.

Withdrawal times allow the animal to metabolize the antibiotic and eliminate it from the body so that no residues will be left in the meat. Therefore, all meat should be free of antibiotics.

Back to the Label

When a meat company uses the ‘No antibiotic added’ or ‘Raised without Antibiotics’ label, they must be able to prove to the USDA that no antibiotics were used to raise that animal.

Basically, that’s it. If the animal has never been given antibiotics, the meat company can use that label.

This has probably been the simplest of the labels in my labeling series.

Have you seen any other labels that you have questions about?

Farmland

I normally don’t have movie reviews on my blog, but for one movie, I’m going to make an exception. Last night, I was invited to the Arkansas screening of the movie, Farmland.

Chances are, if you read this blog, you have an interest in how your food is produced, and if you’re interested in learning about how food is produced in this country, you need to see Farmland. A group called the Farmers and Rancher Alliance financed the film, and it was directed by Academy Award-winning director, James Moll.

Six young farmers were featured, from across the country, representing many aspects of modern American agriculture.

·         I have to say my favorite was Brad Bellah, a cattle rancher from Texas. His ranch is not too far from where I grew up, and the scenes from it made me gasp with reminders of home. I practically cheered when they pictured his family all decked out in the red and black of my alma mater, Texas Tech. He and I probably had many of the same professors. During the movie, his twins were born in the same hospital where I was born. Most importantly, he raises cattle for beef production. Our family also raises beef cattle.

·         The film traveled to Georgia to the poultry farm of Leighton Cooley. We watched him fill a barn with baby chicks and teach kids about chickens.

·         I was so impressed with the work ethic and drive of Margaret Schlass on her Certified Naturally Grown vegetable farm in Pennsylvania. She was the first-generation farmer in the group and she talked about how hard it was to start a farm from nothing.

·         Ryan Veldhuizen and his family raise pigs, corn and soybeans in Minnesota. He and his brother comically argue about tractors and land.

·         Large scale organic farming was represented by Sutton Morgan from California. He learned about farming produce from his dad, but turned his operation to all organic.

·         David Loberg took over his corn and soybean farm from his dad, and it’s tough to watch one of the sadder points of the movie when he talks about losing his dad to cancer.

This film doesn’t shy away from the hard subjects. They cover GMOs, Organic farming, pesticides and chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, and animal cruelty videos. It was interesting to hear all the different takes on those tough subjects.

The main take away from the film was that our food is produced by people. People who work hard and want the best for their families.

It’s hard to devote the time and energy to traveling to a farm for a tour. Lots of farmers would love to have you. This film is a great chance to spend about 70 minutes on farms with young farmers and learn how our food is produced.

Antibiotics in the meat supply: Residues vs. Resistance

There has been a lot of news coverage and proposed legislation lately calling for the banning of antibiotic use in farm animals. People can get very frightened when we talk about antibiotic resistant bacteria or antibiotics in the meat supply.

This has been an especially personal topic for me because our family recently had a scare with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In May, my daughter had a little lump behind her ear. I found it over a weekend and by Sunday evening, she was running a low fever, so we went to the doctor on Monday morning. By 6pm, we were admitted to the hospital with a very high fever and a freshly-lanced abscess. It took 2 of days of testing, and she was diagnosed with MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus). She spent three nights in the hospital on IV antibiotics. Now, she’s fine and back to her little rotten self.

MRSA - Antibiotic-resistant Staph

Experiences like ours are very scary, and I know there are a lot of parents with much worse stories to tell than mine. However, most people know very little about antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA. When they hear about antibiotics in relation to our food supply, they don’t know what to think.

First, what exactly are we talking about?

Antibiotics administered to animals headed to the food supply.

  

Why are animals given antibiotics?

There are two main reasons why animals are given antibiotics.

1. The most obvious reason is that animals are given antibiotics when they are sick or injured to fight infection.

Most people agree that it would be inhumane to withhold a drug from a sick animal and allow it to suffer. Even organic farms and antibiotic-free farms have a protocol in place to treat a sick animal and remove it from their herd.

2. Sometimes animals are given antibiotics to prevent them from getting sick. 

Just like kids, young animals are prone to infection. In some farms, animals live very close to one another and they are not very clean creatures (you just can’t teach a piglet to wash his hooves), so if one gets sick, they could all get sick very quickly. That could spell disaster for a farmer, so some farms choose to feed a low level of antibiotics to prevent disease.

3. Some antibiotics are given to improve how fast and efficiently animals grow.

There are new rules about antibiotics from FDA as of June 2015. I'm doing some research on them to make sure I understand them before I share what they mean in this post. Thanks for bearing with me. 

  

You may have heard a statistic in a news story that said that 80% of the antibiotics sold in the US are given to livestock animals. That number is largely disputed. First, it is impossible to know how many antibiotics are sold in the US, for use in livestock or in humans. Second, a large percentage of drugs used by farmers are not useful in human medicine. Lastly, livestock represent a larger population of bodies than do humans. And, cows and pigs are a lot bigger than humans; pound for pound, they need more antibiotics. What is the real number? Who knows?

What about antibiotics in my meat?

When people in the food industry talk about antibiotics, there are two terms they use: antibiotic residues and antibiotic resistant bacteria.

‘Antibiotic residues’ refers to actual antibiotic chemicals that have been given to the animals, either fed or given as injections, remaining in the edible tissue (meat, fat, or even milk).

The Food and Drug Administration regulates the approval and use of antibiotics in animal medicine. Any antibiotic that is given to a food animal has a specified ‘withdrawal time’ which is the amount of time that the antibiotic has to be withdrawn from the animal before it is slaughtered. These times are based on how long it takes the animal to process the antibiotic so that it is eliminated from the body. Farmers must wait to slaughter an animal for that amount of time after giving the antibiotic to the animal or they will be breaking the law.

The Food Safety Inspection Service (part of USDA) monitors the meat supply and tests for antibiotic residues in the meat. The levels of antibiotic residues found in the meat supply are very low (below 1%), and tests are done on a worst-case scenario basis, which means FSIS tests the tissues that are most likely to contain antibiotic residues (liver and kidneys) and they test a larger percentage of suspect animals (old cows, animals with injection scars, etc.). Although the levels are not zero, I am not really worried about antibiotic residues in meat.

A group called the US Farmers Ranchers Alliance has a video of experts discussing antibiotic residues.

‘Antibiotic-resistant bacteria’ refers to bacteria that are not easily killed by common antibiotics, they are resistant.

How do bacteria become resistant to antibiotics?

Bacteria are everywhere, and there are millions of species, strains, and serotypes… all fancy ways of saying ‘different’ bacteria. Bacteria have a genetic code, just like humans, and they change and evolve with each generation. Unlike humans, they multiply at crazy-fast rates, so their genes can change at fast rates. When you introduce something to kill the bacteria like antibiotics, most of them die, but a few live. The ones that live may have had something in their genetic code that allowed them to survive the antibiotic treatment. All the other bacteria are gone, so that leaves more room and food for the left over bacteria to grow. When they grow, they pass their antibiotic-resistant genes to the next generations. Eventually, those antibiotic-resistant bacteria are spread around, and found all over the place. We have to learn to fight them in different ways.

A study from 2003-2004 found that MRSA (the bacteria my daughter fought) was in 1.5% of American noses. That was 8 years ago, and the bacteria have been spreading since then, so the numbers are probably larger now.

Are antibiotic-resistant bacteria in my food and how did they get there?

Yep. Antibiotic –resistant bacteria are in our food supply. They are everywhere.

Our food is handled by several different people and goes through several steps to get to our plates, and bacteria can be introduced at any of those steps. Some people want to blame the use of antibiotics in animal feed and that may be part of it, but it is likely that several actions contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Can it make me and my family sick?

There are some forms of dangerous food borne pathogens like Salmonella and E.coli that have developed some resistance to antibiotics. That means that if you get one of these bacterial infections in your gut, it will be harder for doctors to help you fight them. But, even the non-resistant forms of these bacteria are very dangerous and can make you very, very sick.

What can I do?

Antibiotic resistant bacteria are susceptible to foodsafety measures such as cooking food thoroughly and keeping raw food away from cooked food. 

• Cooking kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria just like it kills antibiotic-susceptible bacteria. Use a meat thermometer to be sure you cookmeat thoroughly. 
• Hot soap and water wash antibiotic-resistant bacteria off of counter tops and utensils. 
• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria cannot grow as well in cold environments just like the antibiotic susceptible strains, so getting fresh food and leftovers chilled quickly is very important.
• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can’t jump through the air from raw food to cooked food, so keep raw and ready-to-eat foods separate.

  

Anything else?

The main two bacteria species that we hear about when we talk about antibiotic resistance are Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile. Although they are huge issues in the medical industry, the CDC does not see them as a risk in the meat industry. Food safety practices should keep you from getting sick from these bacteria in your food.

However, you may have heard that MRSA has been found in 6.6% of pork samples in a US study. I emailed the author of that study for this post. She was really nice and said that the worry with MRSA in meat is not as much about getting sick from it being in your food as it is about the MRSA spreading from the raw meat to other surfaces and being introduced to a scratch or an open sore and causing severe skin infections, like the one my daughter had.

Lots of bacteria from raw meat can cause skin infections if they are introduced to an opening in the skin, and these antibiotic-resistant ones are very hard to fight. So, my advice is to be extra careful with raw meat, especially with children (face it, they are dirty little monsters. I’ve seen mine lick the bottom of her shoe.).

Keep raw meat separate from other food from the time to pick it out at the grocery store until you cook it.  

• Use a plastic bag to keep raw meat away from other food items and away from surfaces like the bottom of the grocery cart.
• Wash your hands after handling raw meat
• Wash down the countertop with warm soapy water after it came into contact with raw meat (even in the package)
• If you have a cut on your hands, wear gloves when handling raw meat (like when you make hamburger patties.)
• Don’t let very small children handle or be in contact with raw meat

My friend Karen sent me this picture of her grocery cart. Her roast is in its package away from the rest of her food. Looks like she put a piece of butcher paper under it. Way to go Karen!

There have been studies connecting antibiotic-resistant E. coli bacteria from chicken to urinary tract infections. If I have been handling raw meat, I wash my hands before AND after going to the restroom.

I called and asked the pediatrician if there was any way to know where the MRSA that infected my daughter came from, and there was not. The doctor told us that lots of people are infected with it and kids ‘pick their nose, then pick their wounds.’ Gross.

What about buying meat from animals that have not been given antibiotics?

There are companies and farms that offer meat from animals that have never been given antibiotics. I’ve talked about such programs in a previous blog post. If you choose to buy those products because you want to support the practice of never giving animals antibiotics, that’s fine, but you should know that meat from these farms are not guaranteed to be free from antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The meat is not any safer than the meat that does not make that claim. A recent study found that the levels of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA in pork were the same regardless of it being from pig farms that did not use antibiotics.

Denmark has banned the use of sub-therapeutic antibiotics and the results have not been positive for their pork industry. Jeff Fowle, a rancher and blogger from California discusses the ramifications of Denmark's decision in his blog.

Like I said earlier, there is lots of info on the internet about antibiotics (residues and resistant bacteria) in meat and in general.

I don’t know all the answers. Here is a list of a few more resources if you are interested.

MeatMythCrusher Video with Dr. Keith Belk

National Residue Program Fact Sheet from AMI

AMI Fact Sheet about antibiotics


NCBA facts on antibiotics

CDC page on antibiotic resistance

Antimicrobial resistance learning site for vets

FAQ from AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association)

What is the difference between ‘Organic’, ‘Natural’, and ‘Grass-fed’ meat?

I know you have seen lots of claims about 'Natural' or 'Organic' or 'Grass-fed' on meat labels in the grocery store and in menus at restaurants. Along with that, there always seems to be something on TV or the radio or the internet about organic this or natural that and people making claims why this product or that one is better than all the rest. What most people don’t realize is what those claims really mean when they are printed on a meat label or in a restaurant.

Since I've written this post, I've also done a series of posts on food labels.

Organic. The United States Department of Agriculture (through the Ag. Marketing Service) manages the National Organic Program which certifies producers that produce and handle organic produce. Organically raised livestock must be in compliance with the National Organic Program rules beginning at the last 1/3 of gestation. They must be only fed organic feed and allowed to graze only organically-managed pastures. They are not to be given hormones or any other growth-promoting agents, and only allowed to be given vaccines when they are not sick (nothing else). There are requirements that they must be allowed access to outdoors. All of these regulations are certified by agencies accredited through USDA. In order to place the USDA organic seal on the label of a product, it must be made with 95% or greater organic ingredients. Meat labeled as “organic” is very expensive because it costs a lot to produce.

Natural. Lots of people think that ‘Natural’ is the same as ‘Organic’. It is not. According to USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, a product with the word ‘Natural’ on the label must be …

 A product containing no artificial ingredient or added color and is only minimally processed. Minimal processing means that the product was processed in a manner that does not fundamentally alter the product. The label must include a statement explaining the meaning of the term natural (such as "no artificial ingredients; minimally processed").

So, ‘Natural’ is pretty open-ended. It usually comes with another claim like ‘no antibiotics added’ or maybe ‘grass-fed’. Other than that, it’s pretty similar to all the other meat you see. If it doesn’t say ‘grass-fed’, it’s probably not. If it doesn’t say ‘no antibiotics’, they may have been given. Realize that antibiotics have regulations for food animals that ALL producers must follow, natural or not.

The USDA has a nice webpage explaining requirements for several phrases we see on meat labels.

Grass-fed. Most people understand that, in the United States, producers feed cattle grain for the last 3 or 4 months of their life. This is an efficient way to get the cattle to gain weight and fatten to a point where American consumers like to eat beef. Face it, most of us like juicy, tender beef, and that comes from fat beef. Some people don’t like their beef fattened this way. Several countries around the world don’t feed cattle like this. Some cattle spend their entire lives eating grass. Grass-fed beef is generally leaner and has a stronger flavor than grain-fed beef. Some people like it that way (not me).

2016 Amendment. Some of the rules for labeling meat as grass-fed have changed lately, but the premise has stayed the same. Meat processors that want to label their product as 'Grass fed' must have each label approved independently, so technically, the label could mean something slightly different for each company. However, small and very small processors can still use the 'Grass fed' label with the following definition.  The animal must have only been allowed to eat grass or hay for its entire life (except milk when they are babies). They should also be allowed continuous access to pasture during the growing season.

Grass-feeding takes a longer time to get cattle large enough to slaughter, and there is not as much meat on grass-fed beef. So, it costs more.

I am not trying to say that meat labeled as ‘Natural’ or ‘Organic’ or ‘Grass-fed’ is any better or worse than any other meat you may find in a grocery store or a restaurant. I will tell you that it is also not any safer or more nutritious than other meat. I just tell people, eat what you like, and when it comes to food labels, know what you are paying for.