The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) believes the apology issued today by Earls is a good first step. We appreciate their effort to reach out to industry and now encourage Earls to participate in the sustainability discussion through the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.
We will watch with interest as Earls reintroduces Canadian beef to its supply chain. The CCA supports market differentiation for beef, provided marketing claims follow Canadian food labelling guidelines. These guidelines require that claims do not mislead or create an erroneous impression, including about the quality, healthfulness, or safety of a product.
Canadian animal care regulations and standards, including the Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle, can stand up to, and perhaps even exceed, any world-wide certifications or standards. These regulations also govern antibiotic and hormone use in beef, and both ensure the judicious use of these important tools for animal welfare and environment sustainability and require that they are metabolized before the animal can become beef.
Regulations and standards differ from certifications, which are simply a record of the production practices the majority of Canadian cattle producers are already doing.
Source: Cattle