To Market

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To Market
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From the Ranch to the Dinner Plate

• Inspecting Beef
• Grading Beef
• Branding Beef
• Enhancing Beef
• Color of Beef

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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

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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

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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)

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Kosher Beef

• BEEF INSPECTION

• 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

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Halal Beef

• BEEF INSPECTION

• 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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History of Federal Program

• BEEF GRADING

• USDA meat-grading program
• Established in 1927
• Administered by the USDAs 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

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Quality and Yield Grades

• BEEF GRADING

• 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
• 1leanest
• 5fattest

SOURCE USDA, 2010
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Whats Graded?

• BEEF GRADING

• 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

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Rolled and No Roll Beef

• BEEF INSPECTION

• 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

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Lower Quality Still Valuable

• BEEF GRADING

• 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

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Carcass Fat

• BEEF GRADING

• 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
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The Final Word About Quality

• BEEF GRADING

• Relationship Between Marbling, Maturity, and
  Carcass Quality Grade

Degrees of Marbling Slightly Abundant Moderate M
odest 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
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A Word About Yield Grading

• BEEF GRADING

• 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 5
Yield Grade 1
greatest amount of saleable meat
least amount of saleable meat
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Certification Assists Branding

• Branding is increasingly popular
• Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS)
• Provides voluntary certification services
• Provides for certification of specific carcass
  characteristics within each programs 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?dDocNameSTELDEV3025674

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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/executivesummari
  es.aspx

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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
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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

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Enhancement Ingredients, Purposes

• Primary ingredients are
• Water
• Salt
• Phosphates
• These ingredients affect
• Texture
• Water-holding capacity (increases it)
• Meat proteins 20 of beefs 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

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A Natural Phenomenon

• DARK-CUTTING BEEF

• 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

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Quality Not Affected

• DARK-CUTTING BEEF

• 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

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Beef Color

• Myoglobin
• A protein in muscles, similar to hemoglobin, the
  oxygen-carrying 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
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Oxygen Color

• BEEF 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

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Color and Meat Cookery

• BEEF COLOR

• 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 (145F)
medium (160F)
well done (170F)
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Iridescent Beef

• BEEF COLOR

• 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 meats surface
• Smooth meat surfaces may exhibit iridescence more
  vividly than rough surfaces
• Common in Roast Beef and Eye Round

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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

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Beefs 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