National Beef Market Basket Survey – 2006: External fat thickness measurements and separable component determinations for beef from US retail establishments

Abstract

a b s t r a c tA market basket survey for beef retail cut composition at the retail level (four stores each from two chains in each city) was conducted in 11 US cities from January to March 2006. Beef cuts (n = 17,495) were measured for external fat thickness with cuts from the chuck (0.05 cm), round (0.05 cm), and miscellaneous (0.04 cm) having less (P < 0.05) fat than cuts from the loin (0.11 cm) and rib (0.11 cm). Beef cuts (n = 1327) were separated physically into separable components with round cuts having more (P < 0.05) separable lean (96.63%) than chuck cuts (86.81%) and miscellaneous cuts (86.18%), which had more (P < 0.05) separable lean than loin cuts (84.53%) with rib cuts (69.34%) having the lowest (P < 0.05) separable lean. Chemical fat from the separable lean differed (P < 0.05) between each cut category: round cuts (3.71%), miscellaneous cuts (4.99%), loin cuts (5.60%), chuck cuts (6.90%), and rib cuts (8.61%). Ground beef samples (n = 235), with declared lean/fat percentages ranging from 73/27 to 96/4, had overall chemical fat values of 13.41% and moisture values of 67.42%. This survey documents the current beef retail cut and ground beef composition, which is helpful to those who need this information for various dietary and marketing purposes.

National Beef Tenderness Survey—2015: Palatability and Shear Force Assessments of Retail and Foodservice Beef

“…Steak thickness, external fat thickness, and steak weight for the top loin were all numerically similar to values reported by Igo et al (2015), which is not surprising since 4 of the same cities were used in this study. In addition, external fat thickness is numerically higher in this study than the 2006 National Beef Market Basket Study (Mason et al, 2009), which also selected steaks from a majority of the cities included in this study. Interestingly, data from the 2016 National Beef Quality Audit (NBQA) show beef carcasses have higher quality grades and adjusted fat thickness measurements compared to the 2011 NBQA, which could contribute to increased external fat thickness on retail steaks (Boykin et al, 2017a, Boykin et al, 2017b.…”

Assessment of Postmortem Aging Effects on Texas-style Barbecue Beef Briskets

“…In addition, there are multiple influences on flavor in beef, one in particular being lipid type, amount, and composition (Wood et al, 2004). With regards to lipid type and amount, Mason et al (2009) dissected point and flat portions of the brisket to determine the percentages of external fat, seam fat, and extractable fat, finding the flat portion had a higher percent fat and lower percent lean when compared to the point. In addition, the USDA's National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (USDA, 2016b) gives information on total lipid within each portion; on a raw basis, the flat portion has a higher fat content (22.18 g/100 g vs. 20.98 g/100 g) than the point.…”