Your grocery store advertises “USDA Inspected” and “USDA SELECT” beef.
What does this mean? Sometimes you see “USDA CHOICE”, and at upscale stores you might see “USDA PRIME”.
Even more confused? Below you find the answers to help understand the difference.

MARBLING

Beef is harvested and inspected by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspectors. The beef is rated on several factors that affect taste, tenderness and juiciness, as well as the age of the carcass, firmness, texture, color of the product and the amount of marbling. Marbling is the key that influences the overall quality grade. Marbling means flavor. Contrary to popular belief, a bright red steak with little to no marbling is not a tender, flavorful steak. Marbling is the specks of fat in a steak which is very different than a band of fat around the steak. Most consumers would choose a bright red steak over a well marbled steak. What a mistake!

Marbled specks of fat melt into tantalizing tender juices during the cooking process. The greater the marbling in a steak the more juicy, tender and flavorful it will be, with a higher grade. The USDA grades beef in the following order:

Best USDA PRIME Good USDA HIGH CHOICE Fair USDA LOW CHOICE Poor USDA SELECT Worst* USDA STANDARD * See our beef pyramid

USDA PRIME

USDA PRIME beef is the best grade of beef available. All higher grades of beef will taste significantly better due to the higher amount of marbling. Worried about cooking Prime beef? Prime beef is more forgiving during the cooking process than other cuts. The higher marbling adds extra juices, saving your steak from becoming dry and tough even if left on the grill too long.

USDA CHOICE

CHOICE cuts still have lots of marbling and offer great flavor and tenderness. However, there is more confusion; HIGH CHOICE and LOW CHOICE cuts. Why?

CHOICE grade beef used to mean a well marbled steak that tastes great. Due to the influence of the grocery and warehouse stores over the beef industry, the Department of Agriculture split the grade of CHOICE into “LOW” and “HIGH”. LOW CHOICE should really be graded as SELECT, a grade lower than CHOICE, due to sub-standard marbling. HIGH CHOICE is the true well marbled beef of yesterdays. This split in the CHOICE grade gave the advantage to the grocery/warehouse stores by advertising a “loss leader,” or more economical beef. Economical beef is mostly LOW CHOICE, SELECT or the cheapest, STANDARD. Retailers advertise one or two LOW CHOICE cuts of beef as a “special” to lure in the unknowing public who they hope will end up purchasing SELECT and STANDARD grades of beef instead. Another problem for the consumer is that LOW CHOICE is predominately the highest grade the grocery and warehouse stores carry. As a consumer you are paying a higher price per pound for fair to poor quality beef as retailers rely on confusing the public in order to prosper.

SELECT GRADE

SELECT beef has very little to no marbling. If marbling is what equals flavor and tenderness, then why “select” this grade? SELECT grade beef is a lot tougher and far less flavorful than CHOICE and PRIME grades.

If your grocery/warehouse store does not have USDA grades SELECT, CHOICE or PRIME on the labels, you are over paying for a poor cut of beef. Any beef graded below CHOICE does not have enough marbling to taste good, since marbling is the key. To the unknowing consumer, the words “USDA Inspected” sounds good, but means nothing without a grade attached.

All beef has to be inspected. Without a grade you are overpaying at any price. In fact, without a grade you are paying for STANDARD grade beef; the worst on the scale.

STANDARD GRADE

Standard grade beef has very small traces of marbling, if any. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM BRIGHT RED STEAKS with little to no marbling! Unknowing consumers will not know the difference until they taste it.

All this confusion is what retailers hope will work in their favor by selling the lowest grades of beef for the highest profit margins. Cheap beef might seem economical but will not look good on your plate nor taste good in your mouth.

ATTENTION:

As a consumer, please get to know the grading scale. When you can buy HIGH CHOICE and enjoy a great steak. Buy PRIME for special occasions and stay away from SELECT or no grade beef. Beef should always be tender and flavorful.

TASTE THE DIFFERENCE

Western Beef & Seafood wants to be your neighborhood butcher of yesterday. We provide only HIGH CHOICE and PRIME beef. Only 8% of beef can be called Western Premium Angus. Our beef ensures a juicy, tender and flavorful steak. The USDA grade and visible marbling guarantees it.

We invite you to sample Western Beef & Seafood’s VALUE DEAL. We offer you our most popular cuts at a bargain price so you can taste the difference.

We have assembled a sampler containing our most popular items for a limited time for only $49.99. Sample the following:

*SPECIAL OFFER*, OUR VALUE DEAL

(2) 8 oz. Prime Pork Chops
(2) 6 oz. Angus Top Sirloins
(4) 1/3 lb. Angus Steak Burgers
(4) Angus Beef Franks
(4) 6 oz. Chicken Breasts

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