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Fact check: Foam tray color doesn't indicate where meat was processed

The claim: The color of the foam in meat packaging indicates whether the meat was processed outside the United States.

A Facebook user says she asked a butcher at her local Winn-Dixie to explain why meat is packaged in different color Styrofoam. He explained that its a matter of domestic versus international processing.

"The ones with the black styrofoam underneath them, never leave the US. The ones with white Styrofoam are sent and processed outside of the country and shipped back to be put on our shelves," her June 26 post states.

The post was shared more than 79,000 times, with some commenters thanking the woman for providing the information. USA TODAY reached out to the poster, Donna Weil, over Facebook for comment, but she had not responded as of Aug. 6.

Styrofoam color has nothing do with country of origin

In 2018, the University of Florida published a blog post, “Supermarket Foam Tray Colors: What do they mean?”

“There is no official color coding system for foam trays,” the blog says, before giving examples of what consumers may typically see in grocery stores.

Green foam generally appears on fruit or produce, yellow foam is common for chicken packaging. Blue means seafood.

But black, white and red foam is used for all types of red meat, the blog states.

The color supermarkets use to package meat has to do with marketing and cost, said Daniel McKamy, a professor at Clemson University who specializes in food product development, food processing and food packaging.

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Grocery stores may package red meat in pink to make the meat look more attractive, McKamy said. Or they may use white Styrofoam for all of the meat because it’s generally cheaper, he added.

The National Meat Case study conducted in 2004, published in the Journal of Animal Science, determined that the three most common tray colors in retail on a national level are white (39.6%), yellow (22.4%) and black (11.5%).

“The tray color has no bearing whatsoever on where the product is coming from,” McMamy said.

What is the origin of meat? The label says

If people are curious where the protein they buy is coming from, that information can generally be found on the label on the packaging, he said.

But if you’re buying red meat chicken or pork from a grocery store chain, chances are good that it’s from right here in America.

McKamy said, “99% of that (in grocery stores) is coming from U.S. processors.”

Winn-Dixie could not be reached for comment for this story, but USA TODAY Network did get a response from the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding meat packaging.

“Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) just require the packaging material to be safe for the intended use,” FSIS spokeswoman Veronika Pfaeffle said in an email. “The color of the styrofoam used has no bearing on the country of origin. It would be up to the establishment or retailer packaging the product to determine which color they want to use.”

Our ruling: False

We rate this claim FALSE, based on our research. The color of the styrofoam in meat packaging has no relation to where the meat was processed. Grocery stores are free to choose the foam color based on marketing and cost.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Foam tray color doesn't indicate where meat was processed