House votes to postpone meat labeling

The Associated Press reports...

The House voted Wednesday to block the government from requiring labels that would tell shoppers from what country their meat comes. Congress already had postponed the labeling from its original date of 2004 to September 2006. The House action would stop the Agriculture Department from spending money on the new requirement. The postponement was part of a $100 billion spending bill for food and farm programs in the budget year that begins Oct. 1. The House passed the bill by 408-18 vote Wednesday. Western ranchers had counted on the labels to help sell their beef, Rep. Stephanie Herseth said. "Instead, the large meatpackers have rallied to kill this program because they don't want American consumers to discover how much meat in the grocery case is actually imported," said Herseth, D-S.D. Rep. Denny Rehberg, a rancher, said Texas cattle producers are fighting the labels because they do not want shoppers to know that the cattlemen buy cheap Mexican calves to fatten and sell in the U.S....[more]