Clarifying Claims

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), for a product to use this claim, source animals cannot be administered antibiotics in their feed, water or by injections at any point in their life. This includes ionophores which are recognized as antibiotics by FSIS.

At Coleman Natural Foods, we believe antibiotics have a purpose when it comes to treating disease or illness. Our farmers treat pigs that can benefit from antibiotics and then sell these treated pigs into alternative markets, never to Coleman.

The USDA states that added hormones are not allowed in raising hogs or poultry. However, beta-antagonists (growth promotants) such as ractopamine and zilpaterol are nutrition supplements commonly added to animal feed to assist with muscle development.

At Coleman Natural Foods we believe animals should be raised the way nature intended, without the use of added growth hormones or promotants. We’ve never used them, and never will.

According to the USDA, this means all vegetable feeds and no animal by-products (e.g., bloodmeal, bonemeal, fishmeal) are fed to the animal during its lifetime. Conventional livestock diets typically use animal by-products as a source of protein.

At Coleman Natural Foods, our all-vegetarian diet is carefully blended to ensure balanced nutrition for the animals, without the need to include animal by-products.

According to the USDA, labels may bear the phrase “Product of U.S.A.” if the product is processed in the U.S. (i.e., is of domestic origin). Be aware that this does not mean that the ingredients within the product are sourced domestically. For example, a hot dog may be processed in the U.S., but the meat ingredients may be imported.

At Coleman Natural Foods, we work only with American family farmers to source our all-natural pork and beef that is born, raised and harvested in the U.S.A.

The USDA identifies a hog farm as crate free if sows are not restrained in gestation or farrowing crates.

Coleman Natural Foods is one of the largest national pork companies to source hogs that are raised crate free during both gestation and farrowing. Our American family farmers are raising healthy sows and piglets without the use of confinement crates. These standards are third-party verified by Validus, the same company that conducts the American Humane Certified™ audits.

The USDA defines a product as natural if it contains no artificial ingredients or added colors and is only minimally processed.

At Coleman Natural Foods, natural is in our name for a reason. That means ensuring that producers adhere to our standards and protocols, which include crate-free raising practices as well as never using antibiotics or growth promotants. We keep our ingredients simple, making sure all of our products are minimally processed and contain no artificial ingredients.