What is USDA Choice?
USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has quality grades for beef, veal, lamb, yearling mutton, and mutton. It also has yield grades for beef, pork, and lamb. Although USDA quality grades for pork, these do not carry through to the retail level as do the grades for other kinds of meat. USDA meat grades are based on nationally uniform Federal standards of quality. These are applied by experienced USDA graders, who are routinely checked by supervisors who travel throughout the country to make sure that all the graders are interpreting and applying the standards in a uniform manner. A USDA Choice rib roast, for example, must have met the same grade criteria no matter where or when you buy it. When meat is graded, a shield-shaped purple mark is stamped on the carcass. With today’s close trimming at retail level, however, you do not see the USDA grade shield on meat cuts at the store. Instead, retailers put stickers with the USDA grade shield on individual packages of meat. In addi
