I’ve always assumed that all of the meat I bought in the supermarket originated in the United States.

Wrong!

I had no idea that the pork roast I served for Sunday dinner might have come from China… or that the roast beef sandwich I just consumed was from South America… or that the chicken I ate was from Canada.

Boy, was I naive.

I stumbled upon this knowledge when I learned that meat processors are blasting a new USDA regulation requiring meatpackers to include country-of-origin information on supermarket meat.

Like everyone I know, I thought all the meat I found in the grocery store originated in the United States. And yes, I know that a lot of our seafood comes from overseas, like Indonesia or Europe.

The new rule on meat, which goes into effect this Saturday, would require meatpackers to track and label every major step of livestock processing and meat production: where a cow (or chicken or pig) was born, where it was raised and slaughtered, and where it was packaged.

Giant meatpacking companies, like Tyson and Cargill say this tracking process is expensive… and doesn’t benefit the consumer.

Really? I mean… REALLY?

There’s one obvious benefit for the consumer: We’ll all be able to decide whether we really want to buy a rump roast from a country that has sub-standard sanitation and food safety laws.

Needless to say, American ranchers and farmers are VERY MUCH in favor of the new regulation, hoping that more of us will opt to buy “locally” (even if “local” in this case means anywhere in the entire United States).

The meatpacker’s lobby is working furiously to amend this regulation in their favor before it becomes law this weekend.

Do you want to know where your meat comes from?

Think about this a moment.

A few days ago, Russia banned imports of U.S. pork and beef because the meats may contain the feed additive ractopamine. That’s the same additive banned in China, Taiwan and the European Union.

Ractopamine is used to develop lean muscle in livestock… pigs that are fed the additive during the last weeks of their lives produce an average of 10% more meat and have less fat. Between 60% and 80% of the pigs in this country are given the additive.

But since it’s been in use, the drug maker (Eli Lilly) has received hundreds of reports from vets and farmers about pigs that became sick or lame because of the additive. The situation is serious enough that the Food and Drug Administration now requires the drug to carry a warning label when it’s dispensed.

Thirteen years ago, the FDA declared ractopamine safe for livestock… Really? Ractopamine mimics stress hormones, making a pig’s heart beat faster and relaxing its blood vessels. Ractopamine hasn’t been proposed for human use, but somehow, I have to believe that these additives find their way into our bodies if we’re eating livestock that’s been fed the drug.

There’s something unsettling about the fact that other countries (including China, which has a history of goosing food with illegal substances) have taken a stand on ractopamine. It makes me wonder, once again, if the FDA is looking out for big business or us.

Thankfully, if you’re concerned enough about this, some American food companies are avoiding ractopamine altogether… like Whole Foods Markets and Chipotle Restaurants.

But what about regular grocery stores where discount prices fuel the way we shop? Mama’s always preaching about reading labels and being informed BEFORE you buy.

Ractopamine is one of the BIG reasons why.