WASHINGTON, D.C. — The USDA will seek sped-up approval of regulations to expand labeling requirements for mechanically tenderized beef (MTB), USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack told the U.S. House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Feb. 25.

Vilsack gave his verbal commitment to Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) that he would suspend the Uniform Labeling Regulation so the proposed MTB rule could be issued sooner. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulation would have required the rule to be approved by the end of 2014 to take effect by 2016.

The Office of Management and Budget had not cleared the rule by Dec. 31, meaning the rule could not take effect until 2018, according to FSIS procedures. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) joined DeLauro and two other representatives in a Feb. 19 letter urging Vilsack to bump up the approval of the rule.

"Over the past 15 years, FSIS has cited six outbreaks associated with MTB products," stated the letter. According to the legislators, other sicknesses linked to MTB might not have been traced, since consumer labels do not specify the treatment. Industry groups opposed the proposed rule, citing continued improvements in processing and no illnesses attributed to MTB since 2009. In its comments on the rule to USDA, the American Assoc. of Meat Processors (AAMP) stated there is "almost no difference in the risk of illness from intact meat versus mechanically tenderized meat," according to government evaluations.

Improved food safety protocol during processing, and providing safe cooking instructions for all meat products, are more effective guards of public health than labeling meat products as mechanically tenderized, according to the AAMP and the North American Meat Institute.

Even with a relatively low rate of MTB products in the retail meat case, advocates for the rule insist it is necessary for consumer information. "Purchasers of products are entitled to full disclosure about the type of product they are buying," stated the letter from Ryan and his colleagues. The proposed rules could have more impact on wholesale product labeling rather than consumer labeling. Mechanical needle tenderization is most often used on roasts, cooked at processing plants, bound for serving in restaurants and institutions, according to industry groups.