Wal-Mart weighs in

Case-ready trailblazer Wal-Mart addresses case-ready with consumers directly, on its walmartfacts.com Web site.

There, among animal welfare, genetic modifications, irradiated meat, mad cow disease, and other "topics that are in the news today," Wal-Mart makes its case-ready case:

"We made the decision to expand our case-ready meat program to better serve our customers. Case-ready meat is the direction in which the meat industry is going. It utilizes the leading technology introduced by the meat industry and is produced under continuous USDA federal inspections to ensure wholesomeness. We have case-ready meat in 100 percent of our supercenters and Neighborhood Markets, and this decision was prompted by positive customer response.

"Positive customer response has driven Wal-Mart to expand its case-ready fresh meat product line to all supercenters and Neighborhood Markets. With case-ready fresh meat, products will arrive in Wal-Mart supercenters and Neighborhood Markets already packaged and ready for our customers. This technology, introduced by the meat industry, helps streamline distribution and reduce the time it takes for products to move from the manufacturer to the customer. This is consistent with other initiatives in place at Wal-Mart that help us pass additional savings on to our customers. In addition, case-ready meat provides Wal-Mart customers selections that have enhanced quality control, leakproof packaging, better overall appearance, and better tracking of the product."