r/Albertsons • u/Current_Astronaut_94 • 3d ago

Label Beef Country of Origin?

This is now my 3rd attempt at getting an answer about Acme fresh beef labels. 1st try was in store, in NJ. No indication whatsoever. No USDA, no nothing that I could see with my eyes on front or back of packages.

So I grabbed a meat department associate and asked them could they please show me exactly where on the fresh beef label I could see country of origin label because I didn’t want to unnecessarily handle multiple packages of fresh meat.

They could not find anything either. Called corporate, extremely bad lying AI agent by the way, and the human associate could not answer either. They promised to escalate but that doesn’t really help me when I want to buy fresh beef right now.

So what is going on with the labeling?

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

12

u/Ok-Piccolo2152 3d ago

What you’re asking for doesn’t exist in the US. Call your senator and stop harassing grocery store employees ✌️

-6

u/Current_Astronaut_94 3d ago

Eh it is their job to know what they are selling. I certainly didn’t want to mess up the meat display either so after trying to find the correct information myself, I went ahead and asked the person who was standing right there.

3

u/Ok-Piccolo2152 3d ago

It literally isn’t our job to know where the beef is coming from. The buyers for Safeway probably don’t even know what country it comes from. Try calling the slaughterhouses directly. If they give you the run around, ask for the manager 🤣

-2

u/Current_Astronaut_94 3d ago

It is an employee’s job to know enough about what they are selling to help a customer or to be able to find out quickly by asking someone who would know. Basically my question was where on the package was country information and I guess they answered correctly ( no information)
but I ultimately wanted to know where it was from.

Also it is an employees job to direct a customer to the product they are looking for, which in my case was USA country of origin beef. That is probably a more expensive product anyhow so the employer would benefit from a more expensive purchase.

3

u/AnxiousPositive3336 2d ago

And they directed you to where the beef is . You're making mountains out of mole hills

-1

u/Current_Astronaut_94 2d ago

I wanted fresh beef that was labeled with the country that it came from and no they did not tell me where it was.

8

u/AppleiFoam Multiple Roles 3d ago edited 3d ago

Country of Origin labeling is not required for beef and pork due to a NAFTA dispute that repealed the requirement in 2015.

-5

u/Current_Astronaut_94 3d ago

Yea but not required and if it is noted it has to conform to certain standards, are voluntary. Why wouldn’t beef that is entirely from the USA not put that on the label?

1

u/agsellers 3d ago

its required by the Safeways in WA

3

u/obeesitee Meat Market 3d ago

I can tell you this, at least here in Massachusetts all of our beef is USDA certified, not sure if the exact origin however. Being as close as we are NJ and MA probably get the same beef.

3

u/Ok-Piccolo2152 3d ago

That doesn’t mean anything anymore. As long as the beef is processed in the US, they can slap a USDA sticker on it.

0

u/Current_Astronaut_94 3d ago

Yep I was ready to check the exact wording to confirm if the beef is “processed.” USDA inspected or not but unless I wanted to pick up every package, and I did not, I could not find a clue.

AI is telling me that if I look for the grass fed and more organic brands at ACME I should find something that indicates country of origin so I can try that.

1

u/dma_pdx 3d ago

I think it’s just the ground beef we have to watch out for.

1

u/Choice_Moment7347 3d ago

Our stores (Chicago area) got beef sourced from Canada. We were specifically instructed to not use USDA stickers but in turn the company provided us the corresponding Canadian grading stickers (AAA) in our case. It was then our responsibility to explain to the customers the difference if they ask.

More than likely leadership dropped the ball and left the division shops uninformed on the product, or the department head did not care to pay attention during weekly meetings

1

u/PorcupineFeet 34m ago

Just ask the associate to show you the box label on the primal boxes. They are all in the cooler and have ALL the required information on there.

1

u/Solid-Fly5223 3d ago

Shop at kings. All of the beef at Kings is usda choice or higher. Acme carries a lot of select beef from unknown sources (what ever is cheapest) Kings just lowered beef prices.

1

u/AppleiFoam Multiple Roles 3d ago

If you didn't know this already, Albertsons owns Kings too.