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Canadian Beef Advantage

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Kato

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Here's something else we can dicker about. 8)

A comparison of the grading systems in Canada and the U.S. I was quite surprised to see that dark cutters are allowed in the USDA grading system. They have not made the grade here for as long as I can remember.

beefqu7.jpg
 
Are you kiddin, more should check it out. The fact is the US grading system is set up to allow old cattle to be killed and sold in the same pile as a 16 month old youthful fat animal. It would be nice to see what animals make it into each top grade. I know you can get yellow fat from feeding corn if it is a yellow seed coat variety but fat also gets yellow as an animal ages. Gee i wonder why the cattle feeders haven't pushed plant breeders to breed white seed coat variety , doesn't the US cattleman want to be paid for supplying a premium product to the US consumer? :p :oops:
Just think of it this way a way to market canadian beef as premium product in an market used to a lower standard. :p
 
"Dark-cutting beef" is believed to be the result of a reduced sugar content of the lean at the time of slaughter. As a result, this condition does nothave the same significance in grading as do the darker shades of red associated with advancing maturity. The dark color of the lean associated with "dark-cutting beef" is present in varying degrees from that which is barely evident to so-called "black cutters" in which the lean is actually nearly black in color and usually has a "gummy" texture. Although there is little or no evidence which indicates that the "dark-cutting" condition has any adverse effect on palatability, it is considered in grading because of its effect on acceptability and value. Depending on the degree to which this characteristic is developed, the final grade of carcasses which otherwise would qualifyfor the Prime, Choice, or Select grades may be reduced as much as one full grade. In beef otherwise eligible for the Standard or Commercial grade, the final grade may be reduced as much as one-half of a grade.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3002979
 
Here, if it's not consistently bright red, which is what consumer surveys have found is the preferred colour for fresh beef, it is no higher than cow beef in value.

This aspect of grading is totally customer driven.
 
A majority of consumers also believe saturated fats (read that as beef) causes heart disease. NCBA/CBB accepts this and advertises eating lean beef! So what good is this grading system in advancing beef consumption???????
 
Kato said:
By assuring a consistent high quality product.
Click to expand...

I disagree.... The most common complaint I hear about Beef when traveling through The US or Canada is it has no flaovr. Locally, that is why people buy mine.....

PPRM
 
I think this is the reason for the popularity of CAB- that it has to meet a certain grade quality standard - and with that CAB certification you can always expect that standard of a fairly good marbled product....And then some sell CAB Prime Beef when they can get it....

I just heard another restaurant today advertising that they serve only CAB beef- even their breakfast steaks and country fried steaks....That makes all the top eating spots in town now serving CAB...This came about with the shutdown of all the local packing plants that could sell to restaurants a few years ago...

Hopefully next year they can advertise US Born Raised and Slaughtered CAB beef :wink:
 
Kato said:
By assuring a consistent high quality product.
Click to expand...

The assurance of a consistent high quality product means a high fat content in the meat. Most potential consumers view more fat as a greater risk of heart disease. How do you address these consumer concerns? (Which has to be addressed if the beef industry is going to increase per capita consumption.)
 
It doesn't necessarily mean just high fat content. It means consistency in fat colour, meat colour, and texture. The fat content preferred can be chosen by the consumer by choosing which grade they wish to buy.

Everyone doesn't necessarily go for the lardiest looking steak on the shelf. That's what the grades are for, so people can pick a grade with the fat content they prefer. Just as there are people promoting the higher fat beef, there are others promoting lean, and doing very well with it.
 
Kato, go stick your head back in the sand...you should be on a beef promotion board...you are afraid to even address the question.

Beef is blamed for heart disease (among other things) by the news media, politically correct medical orgs, and politically correct dietary orgs. Fast food hamburger (our largest customer) is criticized daily. Yet there is no one in the beef industry that has the guts to stand up and demand, "Where is the proof?" Meat has been a major part of the human diet since the beginning of time. If half of the harm that is claimed was true, mankind would have been extinct thousands of years ago.
 
"Tenderness" has been shown to be the #1 factor in deciding whether a consumer has had a favorable beef eating experience.

There is only a 10% correlation between marbling and tenderness.

Both of our beef grading systems are obsolete............ :shock:
 
You're right, Mike. We've had the same grading system since when? The 20's? Before that even? You would think that our technolgy and knowledge would of increased between then and now enough to accomodate a more accurate system.
 
The problem is we prefer to wait on the government SH.... Wait on the government for COOL....Ummm...Make your own brand, with Ranch of origin..It is more profitable...

Wait on the government to "Test and Grade Better"....How about design beter beef for your own program? Again, more profitable..

This was not directed against you SH, you merely sparked my thot...It is much the same opinion I held when the President of the Oregon Cattlemans kept railing for the state to have another Packing Plant in Oregon. If it is such a good idea, someone should do it privately. It is not a good profitable idea, so they look to the state to do it,


PPRM
 
PPRM said:
The problem is we prefer to wait on the government SH.... Wait on the government for COOL....Ummm...Make your own brand, with Ranch of origin..It is more profitable...

Wait on the government to "Test and Grade Better"....How about design beter beef for your own program? Again, more profitable..

This was not directed against you SH, you merely sparked my thot...It is much the same opinion I held when the President of the Oregon Cattlemans kept railing for the state to have another Packing Plant in Oregon. If it is such a good idea, someone should do it privately. It is not a good profitable idea, so they look to the state to do it,


PPRM
Click to expand...

Point well taken. But the USDA is setting a standard for the masses to use as a guide. There has to be a standard somewhere.

You cannot allow the free market to come up with a guide that is fair and equitable across the board...If so, all beef would be labeled something like:

"EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA TENDER - EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA JUICY - EXTRA, EXTRA, EXTRA FLAVORFUL - EXTRA EXTRA EXTRA HEALTHY"

How would the public know which label is telling the truth??

There must be guidelines................ and they must keep up with technology and information.
 
Kato,

I am curious where you found the chart in your first message. Could you send me that information?

And just FYI, the ribeye steak contains two completely different forms of fat. The outside or backfat is high in acetic and buturic violate fatty acids. This is the kind of fat that can only be removed with a knife and it should be trimmed off since it does not contribute to flavor.

The fat within the muscle, intramuscular marbling, is high in proponic acid which is basically a glucose based fat and low in acetic and buturic violate acids. This is the fat that contributes to flavor and dicates the quality grade of the animal (whether or not that is obselete makes no difference).

If all the beef across the US and Canada is without flavor, I would assume that beef is Low Select or Standard and should not have flavor since it has no marbling to give it flavor!! Let's compare apples to apples when we talk about "all beef"!

One more thing, yellow fat is acquainted to animals with low days on feed, especially cows off grass or really old animals. It takes about 60 to 90 days on a finish ration to charge fat color from yellow to white..........and yellow corn makes WHITE FAT......and we are normally talking about the fat on the OUTSIDE of the meat!!

If you buy beef that has yellow fat on the outside.....be care it is either cow beef, an old bull or something really old.....your eating experience will not be too good.

And that's my story...........
 
You are all missing the point...beef can be as tender as mash potatoes, as flavorful as apple pie, and as cheap as dirt, BUT IF THE CONSUMER THINKS BEEF WILL KILL THEM, THEY AREN'T GOING TO BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The major reason beef has declined since the mid 1970s is the constant bashing based on cholesterol and saturated fats that is scaring consumers away from buying and eating beef.

Beef is the most health beneficial food humans can eat!!!

I believe that...I wonder how many of you do????
 
RobertMac said:
Beef is the most health beneficial food humans can eat!!!


I believe that...I wonder how many of you do????
Click to expand...

I do-- its all this other stuff with the "unknown" additives and preservatives that are killing the country....Problem is with generic beef the Packers took it - and started adulterating it too...
 
Robert Mac..

I believe my Beef is. You mentiuon mankind has evolved for centuries on Beef. Feedlot ration beef with "Extra Hormones" has been relatively recent....

You can tell the difference in the flavor of mine vs storebought.....I had a steak in Texas that was supposedly Dry aged and corn fed. It was a horrible eating experience as was all of the Beef I had there....


So, we farm kill a broken legged calf who has endured stress and isn't fattened and it is so much better than what is served from the stores.... Tell me that there is not something wrong with that picture?????

People stop eating beef because it is relatively more expensive than competitive meats, yet there is not the flavor advantage.....

And Mike..... I can advertize mine as extra tasty, lean, flavorful..there is nothing illegal about Ranch Labeling with no USDA Grade.....I get repeat customers because when they eat it, They find that advertizing to be true.... Great Beef is an art as much as a science...Niether are primary in the corporatness of the decisions made to go from pasture to plate.... I worry that if I don't build the resources to buy my packer, he will be gone and so will my advantage,

PPRM
 

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