Confusing information on Australian lamb

Image via Wikipedia

All lamb isn't created equal, but it is getting harder to find naturally raised meat.

I found a sales flier from Fairway Market in my newspaper today and on the front, the Paramus store offers whole Austral-American semi-boneless leg of lamb for $6.99 a pound.

I thought: This is the first time Fairway is offering Australian lamb, which traditionally is grass-fed and raised without antibiotics and growth hormones, but then I turned to the second page of the flier and read this from Ray Venezia, Fariway's master butcher:

"This [Austral-American lamb] is the finest example ... on the planet -- an Aussie breed mated with an American sheep, and the lamb born and raised here in America, in Utah. Enormously delicious, but not gamey like Aussie or Kiwi lamb."

Gee. I've eaten a lot of both Australian and New Zealand lamb in the past, because it is grass-fed and drug- and hormone-free, and never found it "gamey."

Venezia and Fairway say nothing about antibiotics and growth hormones.

Image via Wikipedia

Searching the Internet, I came across a Web site that discusses Austral-American lamb and states -- contrary to what Fairway says -- the cross-bred sheep are raised in Australia "without unnecessary hormones or antibiotics."

From a Web site called Alibaba.com:

Country Meadow Austral-American Lamb is truly the next generation of lamb. By applying the best of both American and Australian lamb industries, Country Meadow Lamb sets a new standard of value. Their lambs are raised on the unspoiled pastureland of Australia, without unnecessary hormones or antibiotics. The cross of Australian and American genetics results in a lean, flavorful, all-natural product.

Costco also sells Australian lamb under its Kirkland Signature store brand, but there is no information on the packages about how the sheep are raised.