New U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations that went into effect this week aren’t perfect, but they give consumers useful information about the food they buy.

Retailers now are required to label many food products according to their country of origin. The labeling is required for meats, fish, nuts and fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables.

There are, of course, some unfortunate exceptions. Processed foods such as meatballs and sausage are not included. Neither are products that mix several items. So while frozen peas and frozen carrots are covered, a mix of frozen peas and carrots is not. A bag of lettuce would be included, but not if it’s a salad mix that includes radicchio.

The exceptions apparently are an attempt not to overburden food processors, but they don’t all make a lot of sense. The processors know where they are getting what they put into their products. Why not share that information with consumers?

Despite the exceptions, however, the new regulations are an important acknowledgment that where food is produced is a valid consideration for American shoppers. Food that is produced outside the United States isn’t necessarily more suspect or of lesser quality, but consumers should have the opportunity to make that judgment for themselves.

Americans’ awareness of food safety issues has been raised considerably in recent months as a number of problems have come to light. The new USDA labeling would have provided important information last summer when federal health officials were seeking the source of a salmonella outbreak that they believed was caused by tainted tomatoes.

Unfortunately, the new regulations would offer little help in cases related to melamine-laced milk products processed in China. The industrial chemical has killed four babies and made more than 50,000 people sick in China, as well as prompting many recalls of processed foods that were slated for distribution in other countries.

Given some of the high-profile recent cases of tainted food, it’s no wonder that the “local food” movement is gaining a following in the Lawrence area. Most shoppers, however, will continue to buy fresh meat and produce from other parts of the U.S. or the world. The new USDA labeling regulations don’t guarantee the safety of that food, but they give consumers important information and should help investigators more quickly track down the source when problems arise.