Since 1910, the first year that statistics were compiled, Americans have been eating an average of 56 pounds of beef yearly. About 40 million cattle are inspected yearly by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. In 2009, this translated into more than 61 pounds of beef per person. In calls to the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline Hotline, beef is the second food category (behind turkey) callers most ask about. The following information answers many of their questions about the safe handling, preparation, cooking and storage of beef.
What is beef?
The domestication of cattle for food dates to about 6500 B.C. in the Middle East. Cattle were not native to America, but brought to the New World on
ships by European colonists. Americans weren’t big eaters of fresh beef until about 1870, due to the enormous growth of the cattle industry in the West. The introduction of cattle cars and refrigerated cars on the railroad facilitated distribution of the beef.
”Beef” is meat from full-grown cattle about 2 years old. A live steer weighs about 1,000 pounds and yields about 450 pounds of edible meat. There are at least 50 breeds of beef cattle, but fewer than 10 make up most cattle produced. Some major breeds are Angus, Hereford, Charolais, and Brahman.”Baby beef” and “calf” are 2 interchangeable terms used to describe young cattle weighing about 700 pounds that have been raised mainly on milk and grass. The meat cuts from baby beef are smaller; the meat is light red and contains less fat than beef. The fat may have a yellow tint due to the vitamin A in grass.
”Veal” is meat from a calf which weighs about 150 pounds. Those that are mainly milk-fed usually are less than 3 months old. The difference between
“veal” and “calf” is based on the color of their meat, which is determined almost entirely by diet. Veal is pale pink and contains more cholesterol than
beef.
NOTE: This information is about whole muscle beef and variety beef. See “Focus on Ground Beef” for information about hamburger and ground beef
