To Market
From the Ranch to the Dinner
Plate
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Inspecting Beef
Grading Beef
‘Branding’ Beef
Enhancing Beef
Color of Beef
Beef Inspection
 Began in 1891
 Responsibility of the Food Safety and Inspection Service
(FSIS), the public health agency the USDA
 Considered by many to be the most regulated segment of
the food industry
Beef Inspection
 Federal Meat Inspection Program
 Mandatory (paid for by taxpayers)
 Ensures only meat from healthy animals enters food
chain
 Ensures facilities and equipment meet sanitation
standards
 U.S. Inspected and Passed stamp on each primal
 On outside of container if packaged
 Includes official establishment number of processing
plant
Producing Wholesome Beef
 The beef industry takes responsibility for
producing the safest products possible
 Includes everyone:
 Livestock producer (Beef Quality
Assurance Program)
 Packer/processor (USDA-FSIS oversight
and HACCP implementation)
 Wholesaler/retailer operations (cold chain
management)
 Foodservice operator or consumer
(ServSafe ®, proper cookery)
BEEF INSPECTION:
Kosher Beef
 Hebrew meaning “fit and proper” or “properly prepared”
 Processed under supervision of a rabbi; independent of
the requirements for federal/state meat inspection
 Hindquarter cuts not available as kosher
 Kosher inspection stamp applied after meeting
 kosher and federal/state inspection requirements
BEEF INSPECTION:
Halal Beef
Arabic meaning “lawful” or “permitted”
Dietary standard of Muslims
Animal or poultry must be harvested in a ritual, “Zibah”
Animal must be alive and healthy at time of harvest
A Muslim must perform the harvest
“Halal” or “Zabiah Halal” labels must be handled
according to Islamic law under Islamic authority
 Independent of the requirements for federal/state meat
inspection
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BEEF GRADING:
History of Federal Program
 USDA meat-grading program
 Established in 1927
 Administered by the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing
Service (AMS)
 Sets “standards” of quality and cutability
 Generates federal grade standards for beef and veal
 Grading is voluntary (meat inspection is mandatory)
 Paid for by meat packers
 Provides operator with a prediction of palatability
 Tenderness, juiciness, flavor
BEEF GRADING:
Quality and Yield Grades
 8 Quality Grades
 3 most familiar:
 5 remaining: Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and
Canner
 Less than 1% of older cattle that could qualify for
Commercial or Utility are graded
 5 Yield Grades
 1=leanest
 5=fattest
SOURCE: USDA, 2010
BEEF GRADING:
What’s Graded?
 Beef carcass, not individual cuts
 Grade carries forward to all wholesale/primal and portion
cuts derived from graded carcass
 Roughly 95% of all federally inspected slaughter gets a
grade
BEEF INSPECTION:
Rolled and “No Roll” Beef
 Rolled:
 Graded carcass “rolled” with blue ink stamp or shield
to designate grade
 Rolled along back from Round to Chuck and over the
clod and brisket
 No Roll:
 Ungraded carcass
 No official USDA grade standard
 No official “no roll” stamp
BEEF GRADING:
Lower Quality Still Valuable
 Carcasses from lower quality grades not typically graded
 Wholesome and nutritious, but less tender
 Commonly used in
 Ground beef
 Sausages
 Other manufactured meat products
 The best cuts/subprimals of lower grades may be
tenderized and used in lower-priced beef entrées
BEEF GRADING:
Carcass Fat
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Plays important role in determining quality and yield grades
Types of fat:
 Marbling (intramuscular)
 Fat deposited within the muscle
 Important factor in determining quality grade
 Last area for fat to be deposited
 External (subcutaneous)
 Covers outside of the carcass
 Has negative impact on final yield grade
 Seam (intermuscular)
 Lies between muscles
 Has negative impact on final yield grade
 Internal (KPH)
 Protects internal organs
 Has negative impact on final yield grade
Slightly abundant
marbling
Moderate marbling
Small marbling
BEEF GRADING:
The Final Word About Quality
Relationship Between Marbling, Maturity, and Carcass
Quality Grade*
Degrees of
Marbling
Slightly
Abundant
Moderate
Modest
Small
Slight
Traces
Practically
Devoid
* Assumes that firmness of lean is comparably developed with the degree of marbling
and that the carcass is not a “dark cutter.”
** Maturity increases from left to right (A through E).
*** The A Maturity portion of the Figure is the only portion applicable to bullock carcasses.
SOURCE: USDA
BEEF GRADING:
A Word About Yield Grading
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Performed by same USDA grader who determines quality grade
Identify differences in carcass cutability
 Cutability: the amount of saleable meat obtained from the
carcass as boneless, trimmed retail cuts
USDA Yield Grades and Quality Grades are “rolled” onto the
beef carcass at the same time
Useful at purchasing level
Lower yield grade number translates to:
 Smaller cutting loss
 Less seam fat within individual cuts
 Higher cooking yield
Yield Grade 1
greatest amount of
saleable meat
Yield Grade 5
least amount of
saleable meat
Certification – Assists Branding
 “Branding” is increasingly popular
 Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
 Provides voluntary certification services
 Provides for certification of specific carcass
characteristics within each program’s published
requirements
 Provides confidence that claims made were
substantiated by independent 3rd party oversight
 Currently has approved certification services for 60+
beef programs
 For more information visit
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=ST
ELDEV3025674
Aging
 A natural enzymatic process that occurs in all muscles
after harvesting
 Two types of aging:
 Dry
 Wet (vacuum packaged)
 Research suggests that tenderness of cooked beef can be
affected by:
 Individual muscles
 USDA quality grade
 Length of aging time
 To download a copy of Industry Guide for Beef Aging, visit
www.beefresearch.org/executivesummaries.aspx
Dry vs. Wet Aging
Wet Aging
Dry Aging
Vacuum Bags
Uncovered
Under Refrigeration
Under Refrigeration
N/A
Controlled Humidity & Air Flow
Up to 45 Days
Up to 35 Days
Tenderness Increases
Tenderness Increases
Traditional Flavor
Distinctive Brown-Roasted Beefy
Flavor
Yield Loss less than 1%
Yield Loss 4-19%
Less Expensive than Dry Aged
More Expensive than Wet Aged
Enhanced Beef
 Meat is soaked, massaged, tumbled and/or injected with a
marinade to:
 Enhance tenderness or juiciness
 Impart other attributes, such as color or flavor
 All prepackaged products must disclose on the label the
amount of marinade and the ingredients used
Enhancement Ingredients,
Purposes
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Primary ingredients are:
 Water
 Salt
 Phosphates
These ingredients affect:
 Texture
 Water-holding capacity (increases it)
 Meat proteins = 20% of beef’s composition and can hold 4X
their weight in water
Secondary ingredients are:
 Seasonings
 Acids
 Sweeteners
Results:
 Impart unique flavors
 Improve visual appearance
 Provide extended shelf life
DARK-CUTTING BEEF:
A Natural Phenomenon
 Abnormally dark color,
generally the result of reduced
glycogen (muscle “sugar”)
when animal is harvested
 Causes:
 Excessive animal stress
prior to harvest
 Stressful conditions (i.e.,
severe weather changes)
 Effects:
 Does not affect eating quality
 Higher muscle pH (less acid) after carcass is chilled
 May receive one full grade lower
DARK-CUTTING BEEF:
Quality Not Affected
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About 2% of steers and heifers are dark cutters
Acceptable for many foodservice applications
Appears the same as “normal” colored beef after cooking
Does NOT have as long a shelf-life
Beef Color
Myoglobin
 A protein in muscles, similar to hemoglobin, the oxygencarrying protein in blood
 Various amounts give meats their distinctive colors
Myoglobin in a Gram of Meat
Meat
mg
Meat Color
Beef
8
Bright Red
Lamb
6
Red
Pork
2
Grayish-Pink
Veal
2
Light-Pink
Chicken
2
Light-Pink
Fish
2
Light-Pink
BEEF COLOR:
Oxygen & Color
 Beef muscle not exposed to air (oxygen) is a
purplish-red color
 Foodservice operator will recognize a color change
with vacuum-packaged beef cuts
 Sealed bag, color appears purple-red
 Opened bag, “blooms” to bright, cherry-red
 Fresh meat exposed to oxygen for a longer period
of time may change to a “brownish” color
 Chemical change is called oxidation
 Color can toggle between purple and red but once
it changes to brown, it cannot go back
BEEF COLOR:
Color and Meat Cookery
 Myoglobin, along with other meat proteins, “denatures”
when cooked
 The higher the internal temperature of the meat, the less
red the cooked meat becomes, reflecting the “degree of
doneness” of the cooked meat
medium rare
(145°F)
medium
(160°F)
well done
(170°F)
BEEF COLOR:
Iridescent Beef
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Rainbow color in raw and cooked beef
Naturally occurring phenomenon
Does not affect quality or palatability
Created by interference of light waves reflected off the
meat’s surface
 Smooth meat surfaces may exhibit iridescence more
vividly than rough surfaces
 Common in Roast Beef and Eye Round
Beef Color Dynamics
 Persistent pinking - cooked fresh meats that
remain red on the surface or interior despite
being fully cooked
 i.e. meatloaf that remains pink even when
fully cooked
 Scientifically proven causes are:
 Traces of nitrates in water supplies
 Traces of nitrites and nitrates in
vegetables
 Use of pepper solution (which may
contain a trace of natural nitrate)
 Presence of carbon monoxide in heating
gases and exhaust gases may lead to the
red ring on cooked meats
Beef’s Journey to the Dinner Plate
 Inspection is mandatory; federally administered
 Grading for quality and yield is voluntary
 Aging and marinating enhance beef's tenderness and
flavor
 Color of meat is an important factor