Understanding Meat Cuts and Grading
The United States Department of Agriculture is responsible for inspecting meat and poultry to make sure it is safe, wholesome and correctly graded, labeled and packaged. Inspection for wholesomeness is mandatory and is paid for out of tax dollars. Grading for quality is voluntary, and the service is requested and paid for by meat and poultry producers. Typically, the label should tell you the part of the animal the meat comes from and the quality grade of the meat (if it's graded).
Below you will find information on where meat cuts are from on the animal, and how the USDA determines the quality of that cut of meat.
