WASHINGTON – Today the Environmental Working Group petitioned the Department of Agriculture to prohibit beef producers like Tyson Foods’ Brazen Beef from claiming their products are “climate-friendly” and to require independent verification of all climate claims companies use to market beef to consumers.
Allowing misleading climate claims like “climate-friendly” on beef products, or allowing climate claims without sufficient verification and an accompanying numerical carbon disclosure, violates federal laws prohibiting false and misleading claims, said EWG in its petition.
EWG is urging the USDA to prohibit “climate-friendly” and similar claims on beef products and to require a third-party verification and a numerical on-pack carbon disclosure for such claims to give consumers more information.
“There is no single food choice less friendly for the climate than beef,” said Scott Faber, senior vice president for government affairs at EWG. “The only thing ‘brazen’ about Tyson’s beef is its brazen claim that beef can ever be climate friendly.”
Studies show no food choice results in more greenhouse gas emissions than beef. But many consumers viewing “climate-friendly” claims, like those made by Brazen Beef, an initiative of Tyson Foods, are likely to assume that purchasing beef bearing such a label will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
By any measure, beef is a bad choice for the climate. Per gram of protein, beef production results in approximately nine times more greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions than poultry, six-and-a-half times more than pork and 25 times more than soybeans.
Brazen Beef claims to rely on “innovative, reliable farmers who raise crops using agricultural practices that can help reduce GHG emissions,” citing changes in tillage, the adoption of cover crops and better nutrient management. It also says that ranchers must meet the criteria of Tyson Foods’ Climate-Smart Beef Program, which includes an auditing process and data sharing that is “used in a model that estimates GHG emissions.”
Brazen Beef claims its GHG emissions are already down 10 percent. In support of this claim, Brazen Beef avers that it has “built a model that backs it up.”
Yet neither Brazen Beef or Tyson identifies the farmers or ranchers adopting these practices, names the specific practices that have been adopted, or produces data demonstrating that these practices have reduced the methane emissions produced by animals and their manure or the nitrous oxide emissions caused by fertilizing crops grown for animal feed.
“Consumers assume that such ‘climate-friendly’ and similar claims have been verified by an independent third party,” Faber said. “But the USDA relies on an honor system, taking ranchers and food companies at their word without any verification by the USDA or a qualified third party.”
EWG also submitted a Freedom of Information Request to the agency asking for all internal communications, including emails, memos and minutes of meetings between agency staff and representatives from beef producers like Brazen Beef and Tyson.
“No amount of greenwashing by companies can obscure the fact that beef is always the worst food choice for the climate,” Faber said.
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The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
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