WASHINGTON — More comments continue to come into the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) about Perdue Farms LLC petition of “free-range” and “pasture-raised” production claims that are placed on poultry products.

On Feb. 2, five members of Congress provided a letter to FSIS as it tried to work through the petition process with the agency.

“As USDA evaluates the petition and considers policy changes, we ask that the Department establish a robust process for stakeholder input to ensure there are no unintended consequences,” the letter stated. “Changing the requirements for individual marketing claims will have both upstream and downstream economic impacts on production practices, retail opportunities, and input requirements.”

The letter added that if FSIS chooses to act, it should do it through an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in order to “facilitate full and complete engagement from stakeholders including producers, processors, retailers, certifiers, trade associations and others on this issue.”

Another recent comment supporting Perdue’s proposal came from Putney, Vt.-based Leaping Bear Farm, which detailed natural behaviors and how birds exhibit them when having outdoor access.

“In smaller operations, the birds do range outside in the morning and evening but are not naturally adventurous and will not explore very far beyond their shelters,” said Vanessa Rose of Leaping Bear Farm.

Rose explained the farm plans to invest in mobile infrastructure to keep poultry moving and give them access to fresh pasture every day.

“Before I became a pastured poultry producer, I worked extensively as a graphic designer in consumer packaged goods within national retail spaces,” Rose said. “There is a rule of thumb that you have just three short seconds to capture and communicate with shoppers in retail. That means packaging must be clear and concise but also that we must have meaningful definitions to claims that consumers can trust and understand.”

Perdue introduced this petition involving “free-range” and “pasture-raised” production claims in March 2023.

During December 2023, FSIS received comments from other stakeholders, including FMI – The Food Industry Association.