'Porkalypse' Delayed to July

Restaurants and retailers might have another month to change the cuts of pork they stock.

More than two weeks after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling put Massachusetts pork regulations back on center stage, Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office shed a bit of light on the timeline for the voter-approved measure to take effect.

Campbell's office told the News Service that businesses and industry groups who challenged the Bay State's law have until June 5 to ask a court to rehear their case now that a similar legal fight in California has been resolved. If they opt against that, the U.S. District Court would issue a judgment on or about June 12, and the stalled pig-welfare regulations would take effect with a deadline one month later around July 12, Campbell's office said.

That would give parties a bit more time to prepare for new limits requiring many pork products sold in Massachusetts to come from animals housed with additional space, a requirement under the 2016 voter law.

An August 2022 order from U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf stayed enforcement of the Massachusetts law "until 30 days after the issuance [of the] Supreme Court's decision" in a case concerning a similar California law, "by which time the Parties will file a proposal for future proceedings in the case, if any."

Some animal rights advocates who supported the initiative petition interpreted that 30-day timeline to mean the already-crafted regulations would take effect a month after the May 11 Supreme Court ruling, but Campbell's office said that the District Court has 30 days to close out the paused Massachusetts case and then the effective date for regulations will be one month later.

The regulations require all uncooked "whole pork" items sold in the Bay State to come from pigs given enough space to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely, even if the animals were raised and slaughtered in other states. Combination products like hot dogs are not subject to the limits.

Some pork purveyors are already bristling at the impending requirements, warning that they will force significant price increases, according to the Boston Globe. - Chris Lisinski/SHNS