Meat&Poultry - June 2013 - 14

Washington
by bERNARD SHIRE

meatpoultry@sosland.com

5/9

What’s in a name?

-17

I

f you’re a meat customer but don’t

for cuts of beef and pork have been in-

will be labeled a T-bone, whether it’s

know a rump roast from a pork

troduced. These titles include easier

beef or pork. And sirloin steak used to

and simplified names, but also detailed

be named beef-loin top-sirloin steak,

butt, help is on the way.
The American meat industry is

boneless. Now it will be called: sirloin

cooking guidelines and instructions.

steak. That makes sense!

fusing labeling system that has been

For example, what was once labeled as

For many industry planners, the

used for more than 40 years to name

“pork butt,” which by the way comes

change to start making things easier

cuts of pork, beef, lamb and veal. Un-

from the shoulder, will now be called

to understand in the world of beef and

fortunately, the meat-naming system

a “Boston roast” and be described to

pork comes just in time because there’s

– known as the Uniform Retail Meat

consumers as a bone-in pork shoul-

a great deal of interest in food in this

Identification Standards – wasn’t de-

der. Some have questioned if this is,

country, albeit entertainment-based

signed to help consumers at all. It was

/24

descriptions of the meat itself – and

updating what was an old and con-

indeed an improvement. Is Boston

interest more than anything else. Pro-

set up for the demands of butchers and

gramming focused on instructing people how to make food has declined.

trying to find the right cut of meat to
cook at home. What the meat industry realized is that on top of other PR
problems, ignorance and confusion
about the types of meats available in

Photo courtesy of National Pork Board and Beef Checkoff

meat retailers and not for customers

And knowledge about food and how
to cook continues to wane. While a lot
of consumers talk about shopping at
farmers markets, the processed-food
industry is skyrocketing.
But the meat industry has taken
it upon itself to try and remove some
of the confusion that surrounds cuts
of meat, what they’re called, and how
they’re labeled. Part of the problem for
this confusion has been that meat-label titles and the labels themselves are
regulated by the USDA. And while
the Uniform Retail Standards are vol-

New labeling system

necessarily more descriptive? What

untary, not compulsory, most retail-

does “bone-in pork shoulder” mean

store counters doesn’t help meat sales.

ers use it. Stores not wanting to use

to the consumer?

the Uniform Retail Standards sys-

Players in the industry, including the

The real problem is customers

tem must design alternative labels for

National Pork Board and the National

didn’t necessarily understand the

USDA approval or use a different set

Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Check-

names being used for many years. As

of labels also approved by Uncle Sam.

off Program, as well as federal officials

a result, consumers would shy away

While butchers and meat retailers

from the US Dept. of Agriculture,

from using products whose names or

understood the old terms, consumers

conducted consumer research and for-

labels they didn’t understand. To that

didn’t and many still won’t. Consum-

mulated, after several years of work, a

end, the pork and beef industry has

ers want to know what the piece of

new and updated meat-labeling sys-

been working with USDA officials to

meat is and how to cook it so it will be

tem. The new labeling protocol was

make some major changes in labeling

pleasing to them and their families. ■

rolled out in retail stores just in time

and titles. They include using similar

for the 2013 grilling season.

or identical names across species lines.

More than 350 new labeling titles

14

For example, a bone-in loin cut

Bernard Shire is a contributing editor based in
Lancaster, Pa. He also works as a food safety
consultant for Shire & Associates LLC.

• Meat&Poultry • June 2013 • www.MeatPoultry.com

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