SILK

U. S. GRADE

A

By Eleanor Ferris, Consumer and Marketing Service

Shopping for food today is much more complicated than it used to be. Most grocery stores have a bewildering array of foods; and perhaps you find it difficult to select the particular variety or quality you want.

Your solution may be to buy a particular brand, or a food that carries an official grade mark. The U. S. Department of Agriculture offers a shopper's aid in the form of U. S. grades for consumers. You are probably familiar with some of these gradesU. S. Grade A or AA for eggs, for instance.

This publication contains a list of all consumer grades established by the USDA, along with some U. S. grades that are used in wholesale trading. Consumer grades are designed to be applied to small units of food such as you commonly buy in retail storesfor instance, 1 chicken or 5 pounds of potatoes. The wholesale grades are suited to comparatively large-scale shipments and they allow a certain percentage of tolerance for undergrade specimens. And grades, in general, apply to quality at the time the product was graded.

The grades listed here are the only official grades applied by the Federal Government to the products named. Most U. S. grades for consumers are preceded by the letters "U. S." and are enclosed in a shield-shaped

mark; and most consumer grades except for meats are designated by letters U. S. Grade A, B, or C.

An explanation of the meaning of each of the Federal grades, and suggestions on suitable uses for some of the foods of different grades, are also included in this pamphlet.

Buying graded foods, of course, does not necessarily imply buying only the best. Grades offer a choice of quality so that you may pick the one most suitable for the use you have in mind, such as top grades of eggs for poaching or frying, lower grades for general cooking and baking.

The Consumer and Marketing Service is the USDA agency responsible for developing the standards on which these consumer grades as well as the many grades used in wholesale trading-are based. C&MS also provides grading services, many of them in cooperation with State agencies.

The use of U. S. grades for consumers is strictly voluntary. The food processor, handler, or producer, must request grading service, if he wants it, and he must pay a fee for it.

Near the end of this bulletin, you will find a list of a few of the other publications about wholesale and retail grades-some of them going into more detail about particular foods.

MEATS

Federally graded meat is easy to identify. It bears a grade stamp which consists of a shield enclosing the letters "USDA" and the appropriate grade name, such as Prime, Choice, or Good.

This stamp is registered in the U. S. Patent Office and only an official grader of the U. S. Department of Agriculture is authorized to use it. Judging the quality of most meats is a very technical job requiring much skill and training. It is almost impossible to judge quality in small retail cuts. That is why the Federal meat grader grades only whole carcasses or wholesale cuts.

The grader uses a roller stamp which leaves a ribbon-like imprint of the grade name and he applies it in such a manner that there will be an imprint of the grade name on practically all of the retail cuts. The stamping is done with a harmless purple vegetable juice which usually disappears in cooking.

Occasionally, a cutablity or yield stamp-a shield enclosing the letters "USDA" and a number from 1 to 5-may show up on retail beef cuts. This stamp, used by the wholesale and retail meat industry, indicates the amount of trimmed. retail cuts which can be produced from different carcasses and wholesale cuts.

Another purple stamp you may see on meat is round in shape and bears the legend "U. S. Insp'd & P'S'D." This is the symbol of Federal meat inspection and assures you that the meat was wholesome at the time it was inspected. Federal inspection is compulsory for meat shipped in interstate or foreign commerce. All meat federally graded must first be inspected for whole

someness.

Beef

Six official grades of beef may be found in retail stores. They are USDA Prime, Choice, Good, Standard, Commercial, and Utility. Two lower grades, Cutter and Canner, are rarely if ever offered to customers as fresh beef but are used in the manufacture of various sausages, meat loaves and other processed meat items, which are not federally graded.

It does not necessarily follow that any one store would carry all the grades. The owner

Prime beef is the top quality, produced from young and well-fed beef-type cattle. Meat from such animals has liberal quantities of fat interspersed within the lean (marbling) and is juicy, tender and flavorful. Prime rib roasts and loin steaks are consistently tender. You will find little Prime grade beef in retail markets because most of it is sold to hotels and restaurants.

Choice grade beef is of high quality but usually has less fat than Prime beef. Most of the high quality beef in retail markets is USDA Choice grade, and this is the grade most consumers prefer. More Choice beef is produced than any other grade, and it is usually available the year round in substantial quantity. Roasts and steaks from the loin and rib are tender and juicy and other cuts, such as those from the round or chuck, which are more suitable for braising and pot roasting, should be tender with a welldeveloped flavor.

USDA Good grade beef pleases thrifty shoppers who seek beef with little fat but of fairly good quality. Although cuts of this grade lack the juiciness associated with a higher degree of fatness, their relative tenderness and high proportion of lean to fat make them the preference of many people.

Beef of the USDA Standard grade has a very thin covering of fat and appeals to consumers whose primary concern is a high proportion of lean. It is mild in flavor and, though lacking the juiciness found in beef with more marbling, it is usually relatively tender when properly prepared.

Beef that is graded Commercial is produced from older cattle and usually lacks the tenderness of the higher grades. Most cuts require long slow cooking with moist heat to make them tender and to develop the rich, full beef flavor characteristic of mature beef.

USDA Utility grade beef is produced mostly from cattle somewhat advanced in age and is usually lacking in natural tenderness and juiciness. Cuts of this grade, as they appear in retail stores, carry very little fat but provide a palatable, economical source of lean meat for pot roasting, stewing, boiling or groundmeat dishes. For satisfactory results, long, slow cooking by moist heat is essential.