Grades of Meat

Quality Grades – Beef

Quality grades are reflective of the eating quality of beef. Beef carcasses
are cut between the 12th and 13th rib, making the ribeye easy to view. United
Sates Department of Agriculture (USDA) Graders evaluate the distribution on
marbling in the ribeye. The age or maturity of the animal is also factored into
the quality grade.

The ribeye on the left is the one most of you probably leaned towards. It
has a greater amount of marbling in the ribeye. Marbling is thw white pieces of
fat that are seen inside the lean. Additionally, it has a brighter, more cherry-
red colored ribeye. The ribeye on the right does have less fat along the ribeye.
However, it has less marbling than the other ribeye. In addition it has a duller
color to the meat.
The USDA grading system breaks down the quality grades of beef into
Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner.
 Prime is the highest quality of beef available. They have the most
marbling and are sure to provide a wonderfully juicy and extremely tasty eating
experience. The high level of marbling makes them great for grilling and other
dry cooking methods.

Choice is still high quality beef that has less marbling than Prime.
Consumers are going to receive a delicious and juicy eating experience. Tender
cuts are still great for grilling and other dry cooking methods, while less tender
cuts are more suitable for a liquid added type of cooking.

Select is a uniform, leaner quality of beef. It still is tender and can

provide pleasurable eating experiences, having less marbling Select beef is
going to tend to be less juicy and tender than Prime or Select. Most often select
cuts are either marinated or braised to achieve the most eating satisfaction.
Maturity or age is harder for the everyday consumer to see in the
supermarket. This is taken into consideration when the USDA graders are
grading the carcasses. Graders take the color of the ribeye in combination with
the skeletal maturity to come up with this component of the quality grade. Any
cattle that are graded Prime, Choice or Select are going to be young cattle
which have not reached full maturity.
 Quality grading is a voluntary service that is provided by the USDA and
paid for by the processors and producers. The USDA has stamps that they use
to identify what quality grade the carcass is.
Pork Quality
The quality of pork depends on its color, texture, and marbling which
can be determined by visual evaluation or scientific tests such as ultimate pH.
Fresh pork is more tender and juicy when it is reddish-pink, firm and non-
exudative. The chart below helps to demonstrate the variations in pork quality.
The USDA does not grade pork in the same way it does in beef. Pork carcasses
are not ribbed, and grades of pork are determined by back fat thickness and
carcass muscling.

Lamb Grades
Lamb grades are based on age, conformation (carcass muscling), and
other lean quality factors such as color. There are five quality grades: Prime,
Choice, Good, Utility, and Cull. More than 90% of lamv in the US will grade
USDA Prime or Choice.
Poultry Grading
Quality refers to the inherent properties of a product that determine its
relative degree of excellence or value. Experience and research have identified
certain properties in poultry that are desired by producers, processors, and
consumers. Some of these properties are a good proportion
of meat to bone, adequate skin covering, absence of feathers, and freedom from
discolorations.
Standards of quality enumerate the factors that affect these properties
and apply to individual ready-to-cook poultry carcasses, parts, and products.
There are no grade standards for giblets, detached necks and tails, wing tips,
and skin.
 For carcasses and parts, the factors include conformation, fleshing, fat
covering, defeathering, exposed flesh, discolorations, disjointed or broken
bones, missing parts from whole carcasses, and freezing defects, if applicable.
For poultry products, such as boneless-skinless breasts, factors include
presence of bones, tendons, cartilage, discolorations, and blood clots, as well as
other product-specific factors.
Grades apply to lots of poultry of the same kind and class, each of which
conforms to the requirements for the grade standard. The U.S. consumer
grades for poultry are U.S. Grades A, B, and C.
Grading involves evaluating poultry in terms of the standards to
determine the grade. Figures 11-14 show an A quality young chicken, turkey,
duck, and goose. A given lot of poultry may contain a small percentage of a
quality lower than the grade specified because some defects are permitted. This
is an unavoidable necessity due to today’s production-
type processing methods.
Poultry grade standards have changed over the years to reflect
developments in poultry production, processing, and marketing. Standards for
ready-to-cook poultry were added to the regulations in 1950. Roasts were
added in 1965. Parts and boneless breasts and thighs were added in 1969.
All provisions for grading live and dressed poultry were eliminated in 1976.
Large poultry parts, skinless carcasses and parts, and tenderloins were added
in 1995. As the need arises and meaningful quality factors are established for
other products, additional grade standards will be developed.