"Tyson Foods has agreed to stop making claims about reaching "net zero" or selling "climate-smart" beef for at least five years, part of a settlement from a lawsuit brought against it by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG). EWG sued Tyson in 2024 over "false or misleading" marketing claims. The lawsuit, filed in D.C. Superior Court, alleged that Tyson misled customers through materials that said the company's industrial meat production operations will reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and also claims that it produces "climate-smart" beef."
"Beef is one of the worst climate offenders when it comes to proteins. It is responsible for eight to 10 times the carbon emissions as chicken and up to 50 times those of beans. Climate experts highlight beef's immense land and water use, deforestation, and the methane emissions from cattle as top environmental impacts. In the United States, agriculture at large accounts for about 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. About half of that comes from livestock, with cattle specifically making up 35% of agriculture emissions."
"In 2023, Tyson launched a "Climate-Smart Beef Program." It advertised that its "Brazen Beef" products were part of that program, and that they came from animals raised "with emissions reduction practices in mind," per the lawsuit. On its Brazen Beef website, Tyson had said that its emissions were already down 10% (the website is no longer available). But EWG says that Tyson never defined "what exactly 'climate-smart beef' is, what baseline it is using for comparison, or how it is measuring any alleged [greenhouse gass] reductions," the lawsuit reads."
Tyson Foods agreed to halt marketing claims that it will reach "net zero" emissions or that it sells "climate-smart" beef for at least five years under a settlement with the Environmental Working Group. EWG sued in 2024 alleging false or misleading claims that Tyson's industrial meat operations would reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and that Brazen Beef belonged to a climate program. Beef generates far higher greenhouse gas emissions than other proteins, driven by methane, land and water use, and deforestation. EWG said Tyson provided no clear definitions, baselines, or measurement plans for its claims.
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