Ye-HaBeef Labeling Brainteaser
Once again, we set out to write a simple explanation and it turned into several hours of research.
Our food is so complicated!
Beef is the steer, heifer, or cow muscle and is made up of approximately 75% water, 20% protein, and 5% fat, carbohydrates, and minerals.
A steer is a castrated male, a young female who has not yet had a calf is a heifer, and a cow is an adult female who has had a calf.
USDA Inspection and Certification
All beef is required to be inspected for “wholesomeness” and is paid for out of tax dollars.
Under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspects all raw beef sold in interstate and foreign commerce, including imported products. Buffalo, rabbit, reindeer, elk, deer, and antelope are NOT covered under mandatory inspection.
Additionally, FSIS monitors State inspection programs, which inspect beef sold only within the state in which they were produced. The 1967 Wholesome Meat Act requires state inspection programs to be "at least equal to" the Federal inspection program. If states choose to end their inspection program or cannot maintain the standard, FSIS must assume responsibility for inspection within that state.
Inspection Mark on Raw Meat
Federally inspected beef is stamped with a round purple mark on carcasses and major cuts. The dye is not harmful. After cutting in smaller retail cuts, the mark might not appear, however, beef that is packaged in an inspected facility will have an inspection mark which identifies the plant on the label.
Grading
The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service is the agency responsible for grading beef. Grading for quality is voluntary and the service is paid for by the beef producers and processors.
Beef is graded as “quality grades” for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor; and “yield grades” for the amount of usable lean meat on the carcass. There are eight quality grades for beef. Quality grades are based on the amount of marbling (flecks of fat within the lean muscle), color, and age (maturity); all traits related to tenderness, juiciness, and flavor - the inspectors don’t actually taste it.
USDA steer, heifer, and cow carcass grades are based on nationally uniform Federal standards of quality. No matter where or when a consumer purchases graded beef, it must have met the same grade criteria. The grade is stamped on the carcass or side of beef and is usually not visible on retail cuts. Retail packages of beef will show the U.S. grade mark if they have been officially graded.
Prime grade is produced from young, well-fed beef cattle. It has abundant marbling and is generally sold in restaurants and hotels.
Choice grade is high quality, but has less marbling than Prime.
Select grade is very uniform in quality and normally leaner than the higher grades.
Standard and Commercial grades are frequently sold as upgraded or as "store brand" meat.
Utility, Cutter, and Canner grades are seldom, if ever, sold at retail but are used instead to make ground beef and processed products.
Marbling is fat within the muscle and is evaluated in the rib eye between the 12th and 13th ribs. The 10 USDA degrees of marbling are abundant, moderately abundant, slightly abundant, moderate, modest, small, slight, traces, practically devoid, and devoid. Marbling is thought to have a strong correlation with the juiciness and flavor of beef.
The degrees of maturity are A, B, C, D and E. Age ranges for these maturity groups are approximately:
A 9 to 30 months
B 30 to 42 months
C 42 to 72 months
D 72 to 96 months
E more than 96 months
Cuts of Beef
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Hamburger and Ground Beef
The difference between "hamburger" and "ground beef" is that beef fat may be added to hamburger but not "ground beef," if the meat is ground and packaged at a USDA-inspected plant.
A maximum of 30% fat by weight is allowed in either hamburger or ground beef. Both hamburger and ground beef can have “seasonings,” but no water, phosphates, extenders, or binders added. They must be labeled in accordance with Federal Standards and Labeling Policy and marked with a USDA-inspected label.
If the beef is ground and packaged in a local store the Federal labeling laws on fat content still apply. Most states and cities set standards for store-packaged ground beef which, by law, cannot be less than Federal standards. If products in retail stores were found to contain more than 30% fat by weight, they would be considered "adulterated" under Federal law.
Most ground beef is not graded. Ground beef is usually made from the less tender and less popular cuts of beef. Trimmings from more tender cuts may also be used.
Open Dating
"Open Dating" is a date stamped on a product's package to help the store determine the deadline by which to sell the beef, it is not a safety date. After the date passes, while not the best quality, the product should still be safe if handled and stored properly.
“Use By” is pretty self-explanatory, you should cook the product by that date.
If the product has a “Sell By” or no date, then fresh beef roast, steaks, chops, or ribs can be refrigerated no longer than 5 days. “Variety meats” (cheek meat, feet, head meat, hearts, kidneys, lips, livers, oxtails, sweetbreads, tongues, and tripe) should be refrigerated no longer than 2 days. If you freeze it, it will be safe indefinitely. Your refrigerator should be kept at 40°F and your freezer at 0 °F.
Keep beef in its original package in the refrigerator until using. It is safe to freeze beef in its original packaging. If freezing longer than 2 months, overwrap the packages with freezer paper, heavy-duty aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or inside a plastic bag.
Water in Beef
Beef contains a large amount of naturally occurring water An eye of round roast is 73% water before cooking and 65% water after cooking. Leaner beef contains more protein and less fat. Since water is a component of protein and not fat, a leaner cut will contain slightly more water on a per weight basis. For example, 85% lean ground beef contains 64% water before cooking while 73% lean ground beef contains 56% water before cooking.
That liquid in the package is not blood. Blood is removed from beef during slaughter and only a small amount remains within the muscle tissue. Beef is transported from slaughter and processing plants in refrigerated trucks that can be kept as cold as 1 °F. Although they may not be frozen solid, they are in a semi-frozen or “hard-chilled” state. Any moisture that is in the product is retained in the tissue. At the grocery store, in refrigerator cases at about 26 °F, the cells of the product will “loosen up” and some of the moisture will melt seep out. In a home refrigerator more liquid will seep out.
When beef is frozen, the water expands and forms ice crystals. The sharp-edged crystals rupture the cells. The water that is outside the cell wall freezes first. As it does, it leeches water from inside the cell walls. When it thaws, the original balance does not return to normal and will have lost some of its natural springiness. The faster the freezing process the smaller the ice crystals will be. Smaller ice crystals will do less damage. Beef flash-frozen by the processor will have superior quality to fresh products frozen by the consumer.
“Enhanced” Beef
“Enhanced” or “value-added” (value-added is in the eye of the producer) beef contain flavor solutions added through marinating, needle injecting, soaking, etc. The presence and amount of the solution will on the label near the product name. The ingredients of the flavor solution must be prominently identified on the label. The labeling term "marinated" can only be used when it contains no more than 10% solution.
DATA SOURCES: USDA and FSIS
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