The outgoing Biden Administration has taken a tough line with the US food industry when it has identified practices that need to be outlawed or areas that can be improved.
It’s interesting that as its time in power came to an end – Donald Trump becomes president today (20 January) – tighter controls to outlaw child labour have been signed off with a number of large meatpackers and a stricter regime has been announced to ensure 2022’s infant-formula shortage doesn’t happen again.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Last week, Brazilian meat major JBS’s US arm signed an agreement with the American government to address child labour issues.
JBS will provide $4m to assist individuals and communities “affected by unlawful child labour practices nationwide”, the US Department of Labor (DoL) said.
The US meatpacking industry has been blighted by allegations that underage employees are working in its plants.
The new agreement commits JBS – the world’s largest beef and pork processor – to hold key elements of its supply chain, third-party contractors and service providers accountable for illegal child labour. It will also create a targeted advertising campaign to raise awareness about unlawful child labour practices.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataA similar deal with another large meatpacker, Perdue Farms, has also just been announced.
Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unveiled plans to “enhance” oversight of infant-formula production as part of its strategy to ensure a “robust and nimble” US infant-formula supply chain.
This initiative is a continuation of efforts following a February 2022 product recall and subsequent shortage.
The suspected presence of the potentially deadly bacteria Cronobacter sakazaaki at a major infant-formula supplier’s factory prompted its closure for several months and a mass product recall.
The FDA also revealed plans to ban the use of the so-called Red 3 food colouring additive in food, supplements and ingestible drugs and to mandate front-of-pack nutrition labels for most packaged foods.
It is tempting to think – given the timing of these announcements – that this was the Biden Administration trying to put the US food industry’s house in order before it packed its bags and left office.
This was a regime, remember, that has attempted to protect consumers from the worst excesses of corporate behaviour.
In August, Vice-President Kamala Harris pledged to ban what the presidential candidate called “price gouging” in food.
Harris proposed introducing a law to prohibit the practice, characterised as purportedly artificially raising prices to levels deemed unfair or unwarranted.
Unfortunately for her, the presidential election result meant her plans will remain on the drawing board.
Unless, that is, they are taken up by the new president.
It will be fascinating to see what line President Trump will take on matters such as this. On the one hand he is a laissez-faire politician believing that businesses should be unshackled from overburdensome regulations and red tape to allow them to grow and help the economy flourish.
But on the other, he is the self-appointed champion of the people and, as such, would presumably want to protect them from higher prices.
His stated intent to introduce higher tariffs on imports, as part of his ‘America first’ mantra, is intended to aid and promote domestic manufacturing and protect jobs at home. Some commentators believe such a policy would be bad for the US economy and actually push food prices up. We shall see.
The point surely is that it is impossible to allow corporate excess in the name of growth at the same time as protecting consumers and keeping prices down and wages up.
Another matter which has consumed food businesses in recent years is sustainability. Most large manufacturers have got net-zero carbon emission goals.
Trump is a known climate change-sceptic so will food manufacturers take their lead from him over the next four years or continue to pursue a sustainability agenda?
It’s all supposition at this stage, of course, and we haven’t got long before we find out what the new administration will do.
President Trump himself has suggested he will hit the ground running with a swathe of executive orders from day one.
What seems certain for the food industry is that for the next four years they are likely to be operating in a very different environment to what went before.
It should be quite a ride.
