Community | September 30, 2008 | 26 comments

Spam, still the mystery meat, escapes new U.S. food-label rules

source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ar4YmiQiK0T8&refer=home

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"U.S. rules requiring meat and fresh produce to be labeled by national origin are falling short of lawmakers' aims, leaving shoppers in the dark about where mixed vegetables, steaks and Spam come from, some lawmakers say.

Six years after being adopted by Congress, country-of-origin labeling takes effect today. Concern about unsafe imports from China and Canada helped overcome food industry efforts to delay the measures. They will cost companies $2.5 billion in the first year, with retailers spending more to market beef, pork and lamb, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. Industry groups say expenses will be even higher.

Some lawmakers and consumer advocates say loopholes will let meatpackers blur the distinction between foreign and domestic meat. Mixed vegetables are exempt from the requirements, as are processed foods ranging from roasted peanuts to Spam, the canned luncheon meat made by Hormel Foods Corp. More regulations may be needed, the lawmakers say."

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26 comments // Spam, still the mystery meat, escapes new U.S. food-label rules

  • dankitti
  • jurdyy
  • smooshie
  • extremepain
    • 0
      extremepain  

    • Ok, heres the answer, but I doubt anyone really cares, since the humor is more fun.

      Spam is made at Hormel (pronounced hormul, not Horm-L), only people near the plant know that, its a family name.

      Hormel headquarters are in Austin, MN, and they even have a Spam museum, which is free admission.
      Spam is made at the Austin Facility, and the word spam comes from what it is, SPiced hAM.

      They process tons of hams which they sell whole and boneless. There are bits and pieces of ham that are leftover after they de-bone the hams. Said pieces are then seasoned and formed and canned, and voila! Spam.

      The funniest thing about the museum is they have billboards nearby that say "Yes, We answer the ingredients question."

      One of my sons went there on a field trip and they all got spam can piggy banks.

    • 3 years ago
  • khromadjo
  • SDLN
    • 0
      SDLN  

    • I never cared for SPAM. My favorite mystery meat has always been souse. Best thing about souse is that it's the only food I can trust my roommates to NEVER eat. lol

    • 3 years ago
  • aliquid_
  • marcus854
    • 0
      marcus854  

    • It's spam! There are probably so many bad things in spam, they thought it was the one thing that was pretty much self explanatory

    • 3 years ago
  • Swiyyah
  • Tori
    • 0
      Tori  
    • Image

    • In Hawaii, where I was born and raised, when there are threats of shipping strikes (and of course everything shelf stable in the grocery stores get to the islands on boats), the two things that sell out at the stores are toilet paper and, you guessed it, spam.
      Fortunately, spam was not a staple in my Mom's cooking, but spam musubi was available in my school cafeteria every day of the week - it's like a big spam sushi, and it's actually pretty good. I usually eat a bite or two, think about what i'm eating...and then pull the spam out. But even just the flavor it leaves on the rice is pretty delicious.

    • 3 years ago
  • abbym0308
    • 0
      abbym0308  

    • "U.S. rules requiring meat and fresh produce to be labeled by national origin are falling short of lawmakers' aims, leaving shoppers in the dark about where mixed vegetables, steaks and Spam come from." Is this because many processed meats come from animals from many different places so it's hard to pinpoint exactly where it's from?

      eew.

    • 3 years ago
  • flyingkick
  • anikhanj
  • blood77
    • 0
      blood77  

    • I think that it is just stupid that if is something is cooked or processed then it doesn't get the C.O.O.L. label. What the hell is the point then?

    • 3 years ago
  • Ionstorm2040
  • GreenTransman
  • simplecj
    • 0
      simplecj  

    • I wonder... could this be because they really don't know where the meat comes from?? Is it sent in anonymous packages from various locations??

      Love the picture... especially that guy saying "What the hell is it made of??"

    • 3 years ago
  • powerhungry
    • 0
      powerhungry  
    • Image

    • I believe that the anti-christ comes from a can of spam hence the secrecy.
      We will not know from which can he will spew himself out of.

      OH MY BAD....I was thinking Deviled ham. Don't I look stupid?

      I think all those pressed and potted meats and meat byproducts are evil.

    • 3 years ago
  • bowtiekittydish
  • kamalie
  • s0und0FF
  • bigloutech
  • kamalie
    • 0
      kamalie  

    • I shall pay visit to the pontificating poetry of D.H. Rumsfeld as we pay homage to the spam.

      The Unknown
      As we know,
      There are known knowns.
      There are things we know we know.
      We also know
      There are known unknowns.
      That is to say
      We know there are some things
      We do not know.
      But there are also unknown unknowns,
      The ones we don't know
      We don't know.

    • 3 years ago
  • joshuaheller
  • SDLN
  • videogirl_mai
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