Today's Beef Options

We've been getting questions lately from consumers who are trying to decipher all the different types of beef available in the meat case or at their favorite restaurants," said John Kleiboeker, executive director of the Missouri Beef Industry Council, Columbia. "It is important to note that the Beef Checkoff Program promotes all beef and the options that consumers have for types of beef have never been greater than they are today," he said.

"Because more choices can sometimes mean more confusion, the purpose here is to define terms identifying different types of beef and clear up what those terms mean for everyone who shops the meat case," Kleiboeker said.

Today's beef options generally fall into four categories -branded beef, certified organic beef, conventional beef, and grass-finished beef.

"For each of these categories we will provide here a detailed definition of the beef type," he said.

More and more beef in the supermarket carries a brand name on the package-Branded Beef.

Branded beef, as for other products, delivers a promise to the consumer. For beef that promise comes in the form of attributes such as consistency in taste, tendewrness, juiciness, and flavor.

Every branded beef program is unique. Most have specifications around grade, aging, and size and they may offer some kind of satisfaction guarantee. In general there are three categories of branded beef.

Breed specific is a branded beef-this type of branded beef chooses cattle from a specific breed. For example certified Angus beef uses only Angus cattle for their program and Kobe beef refers to beef from Wagyu cattle raised in Japan's Kobe region.

Company specific branded beef is a type of branded beef that chooses beef from all types of breeds but includes other criteria in terms of grade, marbling, size, types of feed used, and/or restrictions on the use of pesticides, antibiotics, and growth hormones. Examples would include the sterling silver beef program of Maverick Ranch.

Store branded beef-some grocery chain stores are now branding their beef, Kleiboeker said. For example King Soopers and City Markets in Colorado carry "Cattlemen's Collection," a fresh beef produced exclusively for those divisions of Kroger by the Excel Corporation.