Kevin Lo, Food In-Depth CEO together with Lance Price and Laura Rogers of George Washington University author a study in Science. They find that a substantial portion of cattle destined for the ‘Raised without Antibiotics’ market have been treated with antibiotics. These findings suggest that today’s ‘Raised without Antibiotics’ (RWA) labels lack integrity.
“Growing demand for RWA meats and poultry has the potential to curb antibiotic use in food-animal production; however, the integrity of the USDA’s RWA labels is being undermined by lax verification and enforcement. Until either the USDA acts to rigorously verify RWA claims or retailers eliminate their own safe harbor of ignorance, consumers should not rely on the accuracy of these labels.”
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