>>The bill delays until 2008 a meat labeling law that was to have
gone into effect last year. Pressure from meatpackers and
supermarkets has blocked the labels, which would tell shoppers what
country their meat comes from.
The measure also overrides a court ruling on whether products with
the round, green "USDA Organic" seal can contain small amounts of
non-organic ingredients. An appeals court decided earlier this year
that non-organic substances things like vitamins or baking
powder are not allowed in food bearing the seal.
But more than 200 companies and trade groups said they can't make
organic yogurt and many other products without the ingredients in
question, and congressional negotiators agreed. An industry group,
the Organic Trade Association, said the ruling could cost
manufacturers $758 million annually. Organic food has grown rapidly,
from a $1 billion industry in 1990 to an estimated $14.5 billion this year.<<