I received approval from the USDA FSIS on our pastured pork meat label! Soon I’ll do a final report on the whole process of getting approval for a meat label. It really isn’t all that bad once you figure out the details of how to do it. The people at FSIS were very helpful. Imagine me saying that. :)
Approval of the meat label means that now we can sell retail cuts in stores. That’s a big step as in the past we have only sold live animals as either piglets or whole finished pigs delivered to the butcher.
Outdoors: 43°F/28°F 2″ Snow
Farm House: 60°F/51°F two logs
Tiny Cottage: 53°F/45°F
Walter Jeffries Tinker, Tailor… A bit eclectic & a tad eccentric, polymath, quantum mechanic & Farmer. Also lucky at cards.
Congratulations!
You were dancing with the devil and came out leading!
I really like your label. Nice job!
very cool walter! is this label tied to a particular abattoir or may you move it from abattoir to abattoir within the state? do your cuts come back from the abattoir with no label at all or is there a usda round stamp on them that you then put your label over?
thanks!
At slaughter the processor applies the USDA mark of inspection to the carcasses. After cutting the butcher applies the labels which have the USDA round mark of inspection on them. Each approval with the FSIS USDA is specific to the meat processing facilities I list on the application. I learned to list every single possible meat processor I might work with. There is apparently no limit to the number of different processors you can list.
so you supply the labels to the butcher who then applies them? do you print the specific cuts on the labels and roughly give them the expected # they’ll need? how do they handle the package weights or do you put that on with a sharpie or something? have you had any issues with the indelibility of the labels? pretty much smearproof with freezer frost ‘n such? so many questions , thanks…
Yes, the butcher applies the labels. See these articles about the LX400 for the label printer. Weight marking depends on the product. For example, sausage is 1/2 lb packages and hot dogs are 1 lb packages. But for most products it is “net weight applied at retail” instead. Since we sell almost totally wholesale through stores and restaurants they apply the weights as needed. Since we’re selling fresh for almost everything, frost isn’t an issue but the type of label ink and stock we use does fine in the freezer. Hot dogs are an example of a frozen product for us.