Family fare

by United States. Agricultural Research Service. Human Nutrition Research Division; Institute of Home Economics; United States. Agricultural Research Ser

Meat

Your best guides for selecting meat are the U.S. Department of Agriculture grades. Federally graded meats carry a purple grade stamp—a shield enclosing the letters “USDA” and the grade name. These stamps divide the wide range of meat quality into several groups.

Grade stamps appear on most retail beef, veal, calf, lamb, and mutton cuts. Pork is not usually graded. Some meat packers, wholesalers, and retailers use their own brand names to designate the quality levels of their products.

USDA Prime, the top grade, is used largely by hotels and restaurants. USDA Choice and USDA Good are the grades most commonly found in retail markets. USDA Standard and Commercial grades are not often sold at retail.

38	U. S.
U. S.	INSPECTED
INSP’D & P’S’D	AND PASSED BY
	DEPARTMENT OF
	AGRICULTURE
	EST. 38

USDA meat inspection marks.

Another purple stamp that may appear on fresh retail meat cuts is the circular mark of Federal meat inspection (below, left). This shows that meat is inspected and passed for wholesomeness, and that it is processed under strict sanitary conditions. A round mark of Federal meat inspection (below, right) also appears on processed meat products to show they are made from wholesome meat, are processed under sanitary conditions, and are truthfully labeled. All fresh or processed meat products that are shipped from one State to another must bear a mark of Federal inspection.

Not all meat is federally inspected. Some States and cities have their own regulations for locally produced meats. However, the Wholesome Meat Act of 1967 will ultimately assure consumers that all meat is inspected by either the Federal Government or an adequate State system.

Meat and your money

At the meat counter, consider the amount of cooked lean meat you will get for the money you pay.

The prices for a pound of beef chuck roast, pork rib roast, ground beef, and beef liver may be about the same at your store. In many instances, a pound of these roasts will provide only about half as much cooked lean meat as a pound of ground beef or beef liver. The other half of the pound of roast is bone, excess fat, and drippings.

So it would take twice as many pounds—and twice as much money—to feed your family the roasts as it would the ground beef or liver, even though the price per pound is the same.