Is beef from cattle treated with Zilmax feed additive as tender as other beef?
A9. Beef from cattle treated with Zilmax feed additive meets today’s retail market and consumer demand for lean, safe, wholesome beef products. More than 500 consumer evaluations for taste and tenderness demonstrated equal consumer acceptability for 14-day aged steaks from cattle fed Zilmax feed additive and control-fed cattle. Consumers rated both the cattle fed Zilmax feed additive and control-fed cattle for overall acceptability — 94 percent (Zilmax) vs. 92 percent (control/untreated), and tenderness acceptability — 93 percent (Zilmax) vs. 98 percent (control/untreated). The natural aging process that improves tenderness in beef performs the same in beef from cattle fed Zilmax as in beef from cattle not fed Zilmax. The 2005 National Beef Quality Audit indicated that 50 percent of retailers surveyed age beef 7 to 14 days and nearly 17 percent age their beef 14 to 21 days. Of the restaurateurs surveyed in the 2005 National Beef Tenderness Study, beef is aged an average of 23 days acco
