USDA Has Beef With Zombie Jerky

It's hard enough marketing snack foods to zombies without the U.S. Department of Agriculture being persnickety about the wording on the label.

That's what Aaron Rasmussen of Harcos Laboratories, a Los Angeles-based maker of novelty products and food items, discovered last summer when the company decided to create Zombie Jerky, a line of beef jerky designed specifically for zombies and the people who love them.

It's an idea that seems, like the average zombie, a no-brainer.

Harcos Labs

Harcos Labs, an L.A.-based novelty products company, is hoping to swallow the burgeoning market for zombie-themed foodstuffs by creating beef jerky specifically for the undead.

"Last May, we heard about some blue-colored zombie jerky that was released in Japan," Rasmussen told AOL News. "Since it wasn't available here, we thought we'd make it and use the color green, which is better for zombies, I think."

Plus, jerky for zombies fit in with other Harcos Labs products like flavored Zombie Blood and Blood Energy Potion, an energy drink served in a package that looks like a plasma container from the hospital.

Rasmussen was so sure the path to getting Zombie Jerky to its target market would be smooth that he announced it before getting label approval from the USDA.

"We announced it, and it spread across the Internet," Rasmussen said.

Uh-oh, bad idea.

"They were very good sports through the whole process, especially when presented with a green beef jerky that was marked as being parts of zombie flesh," Rasmussen said. "But they also take their jobs very seriously."

Seems there were a few sticking points with the label, specifically terms like "mutagen free" and calling the flavor of the jerky "Teriyucky." The reviewer also suggested removing or modifying statements that the jerky meat came from "naturally occurring zombies" and that it "doesn't turn you into a zombie."

Rasmussen is quick to point out that the USDA official was not "jerky" by any means.

"They had just never seen a product like this and were uncomfortable with our claims," he said. "They didn't realize the product was green. Once they did, they were OK, but didn't want us to use the word 'slimy.'"

There were other labeling matters as well. Although zombies would no doubt enjoy a product specifically labeled a "biohazard," the USDA did not consider that to be appropriate since the jerky was also ingestible by humans.

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After two months of back-and-forth with the USDA, Rasmussen and crew were able to come up with a label that passed muster and, more helpfully, let potential customers know that eating the product "may not mean you're a cannibal."

USDA officials declined to comment except on background, explained that when making a product for sale, "the labeling needs to be truthful, not misleading."

The product just became available online and at Hot Topic stores for $4.99, which presumably is a popular shopping place for zombies.

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