Grocery meat counters are filled with beef steaks labeled Choice, and while many consumers rightfully associate the label as a good choice for grilling or the stovetop, they might not be familiar with industry quality standards behind the designation.

A beef steak’s tenderness, juiciness and flavor all affect its palatability, or the degree to which food and fluids are deemed desirable and satisfying to a person’s palate, said Earl Ward, Oklahoma State University Extension area livestock specialist for northeastern Oklahoma.

Those aspects are worth closer consideration by industry producers as well as consumers: More than 98% of American households purchased meat in 2020, and 43% of Americans now buy more meat than before the pandemic, according to the 2021 Power of Meat report conducted on behalf of the Food Industry Association. 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has set quality grades that evaluate factors that could affect the palatability of the steak.

“Beef carcass quality grades such as Choice are based off the degree of marbling — the amount of fat within the lean tissue of the muscle — and carcass maturity,” Ward said. “Marbling is the single greatest factor to a steak’s palatability and is determined by an animal’s diet and genetics.”

The USDA quality grades Prime, Choice and Select account for 90% to 95% of beef steaks in grocery meat counters. However, there are also beef quality grades of Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. The latter five grades are for more mature carcasses, typically animals older than 42 months of age when harvested. Thus, any steak labeled Prime, Choice or Select likely comes from an animal less than 42 months old.

Key takeaways of the three most dominant beef quality grades commonly purchased by consumers include:

Standard and Commercial grades of beef are typically sold as ungraded or as store brand meat. Utility, Cutter and Canner grades of beef are seldom sold as steaks at retail outlets but are instead used to make ground beef or processed products.

“If you want a great steak, start by picking up a high-quality cut of beef, fire up the grill, add some salt and pepper, and enjoy the flavors provided by its juiciness and marbling,” Ward said.

Additional information about beef quality grades and standards is available through the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service at https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/carcass-beef-grades-and-standards.

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