What is Urmis?

The Uniform Retail Meat Identity Standards (URMIS) program was established in 1973 by the Industry-wide Cooperative Meat Identification Standards Committee (ICMISC). The consumer oriented identification system was developed to simplify and standardize the perplexing array of fresh meat cuts and their names.

What is the significance of boxed beef to US beef industry?

Boxed beef reduces weight of shipment by some 20–25%, and thus reduces space and freight costs. (b) The sizable boxes are convenient for handling and stacking.

What does boxed meat mean?

The term boxed beef means those carlot-based portions of a beef carcass including fresh and frozen primals, subprimals, cuts fabricated from subprimals (excluding portion-control cuts such as chops and steaks similar to those portion cut items described in the Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications (IMPS) for Fresh …

What is considered boxed beef?

Boxed beef – Cuts of beef put in boxes for shipping from a packing plant to retailers. These primal (rounds, loins, ribs, chucks, etc.) and subprimal cuts are intermediate cuts between the carcass and retail cuts.

What is meat identification?

The visual identification of quality meat is based on colour, marbling and waterholding capacity. Marbling is small streaks of fat that are found within the muscle and can be seen in the meat cut. Marbling has a beneficial effect on juiciness and flavour of meat.

What are the different types of cuts of beef?

To start, there are eight main cuts of beef known as the primal cuts, listed below:

  • Chuck.
  • Rib.
  • Loin.
  • Round.
  • Flank.
  • Short Plate.
  • Brisket.
  • Shank.

What is the difference between feeder cattle and slaughter cattle?

Feeders Refers to weaned calves grazing pasture and of sufficient weight and maturity to be placed on high-energy rations for finishing; they are generally older, weigh more, and carry more condition (finish) than stockers. Slaughter Cattle Refers to cattle grazing on pasture and suitable for slaughter.

What are the USDA grades of beef?

There are eight total quality grades: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner. They have been used by the beef industry since 1927. The first three quality grades — Prime, Choice and Select — are the most commonly recognized by consumers and are considered food-grade labels by USDA.

What is a utility cow?

Breaking Utility cows have sufficient intramuscular fat (marbling) and muscling for the primals (particularly cuts from the rib and loin) to be used outside the ground meat trade. This greatly increases the carcass value of these cows.

What does fleshy mean in cattle?

USDA uses the term “flesh” to describe differences in external fat. However, it is not a part of USDA grade standards, as it can change over time and is more dependent on nutritional environment. Calves with excessive flesh within a given frame and muscle score will typically have a lower sale price.

What is meat cut?

During butchering, beef is first divided into primal cuts, pieces of meat initially separated from the carcass. These are basic sections from which steaks and other subdivisions are cut. The term “primal cut” is quite different from “prime cut”, used to characterize cuts considered to be of higher quality.