First, look at the semantics. “Packed in the USA” or “processed in the USA” isn’t going to cut it. That means the meat may have been packaged domestically, but that label does not guarantee the animal was raised in America. Next, know the sequence of events. “Made in the USA” became a labeling standard enforced by a 1997 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) policy statement, which said “all or virtually all” of a product must originate in the United States. However, a 2015 rollback of a Country of Origin Labeling rule made it harder to determine where meat and poultry actually came from. That was the case until early 2026, when the USDA outlined stricter standards. Under the updated “Product of USA” label, meat must come from an animal that was born, raised, harvested, and processed in the United States.
Now “Product of USA” stickers are carrying more clout, given the USDA’S recently passed, more precise governance over origin claims on your meat, but another handy double-check that doesn’t require a sticker to tell you whether the package of meat in your hand is imported. Just check the back of your meat package. If it was imported, you can find the country of origin in the fine print by the nutrition label.
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