Will COOL Labeling Be Effective?

Marion Nestle Wonders If the New Country-of-Origin Labels Will Make People Pay More Attention To Their Food

September 22, 2008 at 9:58AM by Marion Nestle | comment

At long last, Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) goes into effect September 30. Way back in 2002, Congress got the great idea to pass this legislation but there was so much opposition to it from the food industry that it got postponed endlessly--except for fish.

You might think that knowing where food is produced would be a good thing, but food companies say they can’t do it and they raise all kinds of objections (too complicated, too expensive, not enough room on food labels, leave us alone).

Congress, sympathetic, left lots of loopholes. Consumers Union’s guide to the new law tells you “what’s COOL and what’s not.” CU’s press release summarizes the many exemptions: ham, bacon, roasted peanuts, anything sold in butcher shops or fish markets, mixed vegetables, trail mixes, and so forth. As far as I can tell, nobody paid much attention to fish COOL so it will be interesting to see whether these new rules work better. Keep asking!

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tags: marion nestle, fish, what to eat, country of origin labeling, cool

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Marion Nestle

Noted author Marion Nestle is a Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is the author of What to Eat.
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