FAT evaluates every meat, poultry, and seafood label across the same sixteen transparency categories. Each card below explains what FAT looks for in that category and whether that category is already disclosed by federal rule (AD) or only when a producer chooses to state it.
The FAT card leads with one number — how many of these sixteen categories a label discloses.
A meter fills to the count — not a letter grade, and not a red-amber-green verdict on the food. FAT rates the disclosure, never the food.
Each category carries one of five states:
- Known — the label clearly discloses it.
- Partial — something is stated, but vague or non-specific.
- Missing — the label is silent. A gap, not an accusation.
- AD — Already Disclosed — present because a federal rule requires it. AD counts toward the meter.
- N/A — Not Applicable — the category cannot apply (e.g. added hormones in pork or poultry, where they are prohibited), or a truthful “not” non-claim. N/A is excluded from the count.
Category 1
USDA or FDA Required Basics
USDA / FSIS (meat & poultry): inspection legend, EST number, net weight, safe handling, common product name, ingredient statement. FDA Required Basics (seafood & non-FSIS): statement of identity, net quantity, ingredient list, Big-9 allergen statement, nutrition facts, manufacturer or distributor address. Mandatory — pass/fail: these required elements are either present (pass, full credit) or absent or incorrect (fail, no credit). There is no partial credit.
Category 2
Species
Clear animal type (beef, pork, chicken). Mandatory — pass/fail: the common or usual product name (FSIS) or statement of identity (FDA seafood, per the FDA Seafood List) must identify the species; misrepresentation is a federal violation. Present = pass, wrong or absent = fail — no partial credit.
Category 3
Breed
Breed disclosed by the producer. Breed is a voluntary claim — FSIS requires it be truthful and substantiated only when a producer chooses to make it — so it is graded, not pass/fail. All-or-nothing: a specific breed counts; a vague one does not.
Category 4
Country of Origin
Born, raised, and processed country. All-or-nothing: a specific country counts; no origin does not.
Category 5
Farm
A specific, named source farm, ranch, or grower group. All-or-nothing — a specific, named source counts; a generic marketing phrase like “family farm” is not a source identity and does not.
Category 6
Age at Slaughter
A specific age or documented range at slaughter. Scored all-or-nothing (4 points if disclosed, 0 if not) — a vague term like “young” is not a specific age and earns no credit.
For chicken and poultry, the class name on the label is the only age-linked fact backed by a federal standard of identity (9 CFR 381.170). Each class sets a legal ceiling on age, not the actual slaughter date:
| Class name on label | Legal age ceiling (9 CFR 381.170) |
|---|---|
| Cornish Game Hen / Cornish Hen | Less than 5 weeks old, or less than 2 lb ready-to-cook |
| Broiler / Fryer | Less than 10 weeks old — typical commercial slaughter is ~47 days |
| Roaster | Less than 12 weeks old (amended 2016, 81 FR 21709) |
| Capon | Less than 4 months old; surgically unsexed male |
| Stewing Hen / Fowl / Baking Hen | 10 months or older — a spent laying hen |
The class term is the ceiling, not the floor. A label that says “Broiler” discloses that the bird was slaughtered before 10 weeks — it does not disclose the actual age. Industry data: the average commercial broiler was slaughtered at 112 days in 1925 and at 47.4 days in 2024 (National Chicken Council Broiler Performance Report).
Category 7
Processor
The inspected plant’s name and location, plus the agencies that regulate it. Food-safety inspection is by USDA/FSIS for meat, poultry, and catfish, or by the FDA for seafood and other non-FSIS foods. Two more agencies also oversee the plant: the EPA regulates its wastewater and air pollution (Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act), and OSHA regulates worker safety. The processor identifier — the FSIS establishment number, or the name and place of business for FDA seafood — is pass/fail. On top of that, EPA environmental violations and OSHA worker-safety citations are surfaced on the card as factual public-record lines.
Category 8
Who
The corporate entity that stands behind the product — the immediate owner of the processor, farm, brand, or fishing operation, and any parent companies above it. The Who chain is the key that unlocks the public record: FSIS and FDA enforcement history, the plant’s OSHA worker-safety record, foreign-ownership status, market concentration in the supply chain, and antitrust / HHI analysis. All-or-nothing: the legal owner and corporate parent are identified, or they are not.
Category 9
Brand
The name printed prominently on the package — what consumers see first. Many supermarket brands are subsidiary product lines of much larger corporations (e.g., Eckrich and Nathan’s Famous are Smithfield brands; Hillshire Farm and Jimmy Dean are Tyson brands). FAT discloses both the brand on the package and the corporation that owns it. All-or-nothing: the brand and its ownership relationship are identified, or they are not.
Category 10
Feed
Diet composition disclosed — forage (grass-fed, grass-finished, pasture, hay), grains (corn, oats, barley, millet, soy), mineral supplement package, vegetarian, or regenerative-farming feed. Species-appropriate standards applied. Disclosed in full, in part, or not at all.
What earns credit for Feed
FSIS Guideline FSIS-GD-2024-0006 (August 2024) is explicit: “FSIS considers Grass Fed, Grassfed, Grass-Fed and 100% Grass-Fed to be synonymous terms… derived from cattle that were only (100%) fed forage… after being weaned from their mother’s milk. This means such animals are never confined to a feedlot.” A Grass Fed claim therefore does distinguish the product, and it earns this category. “100% Grass-Fed” is not a stronger claim than “Grass Fed” — FSIS treats the four spellings as one claim.
These do not earn the category: “Grass Finished” alone — the same guideline states it “is not synonymous with Grass Fed. Animals that are Grass Finished can be fed grain”; mixed-diet claims such as “Grain Fed, Grass Finished”; and partial claims disclosing under 100% forage, such as “75% grass fed.” An uncredited claim is still shown on a scan, with the reason it earned nothing.
The limitation of an uncertified grass claim is verification, not meaning: FSIS substantiates it through documentation reviewed at label approval, not an on-farm audit. Third-party certification — American Grassfed Association or Certified Grassfed by A Greener World — is what raises the verification tier. Grass-fed vs. grass-finished under FSIS labeling →
Category 11
Animal Welfare
Welfare practices disclosed. Disclosed in full, in part, or not at all — the category FAT weighs most heavily, and the one most often left silent.
Category 12
Medicine
Antibiotic and vaccination policies disclosed; a claim already prohibited by regulation adds nothing. Disclosed in full, in part, or not at all.
Category 13
Hormones
Synthetic hormones are used in beef cattle to accelerate growth (estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, zeranol, trenbolone) and in dairy cattle to boost milk production (rBST). Federal law prohibits the use of hormones in pork and poultry (swine, chicken, turkey) — any “no hormones added” claim on those products must carry the FDA-required disclaimer “Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones.”
Category 14
Quality & Palatability
Processing method, grade, or quality metrics disclosed.
Category 15
Organic
USDA Organic certification under the National Organic Program (7 CFR Part 205) applies to meat (beef, pork, lamb, poultry) and dairy. Core livestock requirements: 100% certified-organic feed (no GMOs; no slaughter byproducts in feed); no growth hormones; no antibiotics in organic-labeled meat; continuous organic management from the last third of gestation for slaughter livestock; year-round outdoor access; for ruminants, ≥30% of dry-matter intake from pasture during a grazing season of ≥120 days. Verified by USDA-accredited certifying agents with annual on-farm inspection. Disclosed in full, in part, or not at all. A truthful non-claim (e.g. “not organic”) is recorded as N/A, not counted against the label.
Category 16
Supply-Chain Intermediaries
Names every intermediate custodian between the farm (Category 5) and the slaughter establishment (Category 7) — backgrounders, stockers, contract grow-out farms, and finishing feedlots — plus each operation’s captivity status: packer-owned, packer-contracted (captive supply), independent, or undisclosed. For beef, this surfaces the captive-feedlot relationships that drive market concentration, anchored on FAT’s published Captive Feedlot Map and Captivity Tiers Map. Disclosed in full, in part, or not at all.