U.S. to Restrict Use of ‘Fresh’ Label on Poultry

In a victory for California’s poultry industry and consumer groups, chickens that have been chilled below 26 degrees Fahrenheit will no longer be able to be labeled fresh under a rule being announced today by the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Critics had complained that poultry was being sold as fresh even though it had been frozen nearly rock-solid. The department had allowed birds taken to as low as 0 degrees to be labeled fresh.

Critics said the old standard benefited poultry producers in Arkansas, Mississippi and other southeastern states, where the industry is concentrated. The poultry industry could ship the birds long-distance, keep them below what most people understand as freezing, and still sell them at a premium as fresh, the critics said.

The department had announced in January that it would make the change.

The department had not officially announced the final rule Wednesday. But the determination was contained in a notice to broadcasters that Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman would discuss the issue in a satellite feed. Officials would not provide details.

Still unclear is whether the final rule will address some of the requests made by 19 Southern senators, including one that a label other than “previously frozen” be allowed for birds that have not been taken to zero.

Although water freezes at 32 degrees, various salts, other minerals and substances keep chicken and turkeys from starting to freeze until they drop to near 26 degrees. That is when the birds start feeling hard to the touch.

Zero degrees is the point at which a bird is frozen through and through.