Posted: Apr 08, 2013 4:48 PM EDT Monday, April 8, 2013 4:48 PM EST Updated: Apr 08, 2013 4:48 PM EDT Monday, April 8, 2013 4:48 PM EST DES MOINES, IA (NBC) -- Familiar cuts of meat at the grocery store are getting renamed. The beef and pork industries got together and are renaming more than 350 cuts of meats, they say, to make identifying the cuts more "consumer-friendly." This announcement has been marinating for some time now. The National Pork Board and National Cattlemen's Beef Association teamed up to conduct research about this over the course of a year and a half. They said it showed some consumers get confused by the different names for similar cuts of meat. Their results prompted this change in what's called Uniform Retail Meat Identification Standards, a voluntary system but one the majority of US food retailers use. Under the changes, according to a news release on the National Pork Board's website, "several cuts of pork will now match the names for similar beef cuts for easier consumer identification and preparation." Those include change "loin chop" to "pork porterhouse chop," "top loin chop" to "pork New York chop" and "rib chop" to "pork ribeye chop." However, not everybody is on board with this. At his Dubuque butcher shop Friday afternoon, Jeff Cremer prepared a chuck roast for longtime customer Sandy Harry. "He knows I don't go anywhere else to buy my meat but here," she said. As a third-generation butcher, Cremer said it's not words on a label that sell meat. "My customers typically are people who know what they like, come in specifically for certain items and they're not going to be swayed by some new marketing campaign by the beef industry or the pork industry," Cremer said. When the National Pork Board and National Cattlemen's Beef Association announced they're changing the long-standard names of more than 350 cuts of meat, Cremer said he's not biting. "It'll be confusing for the customer and it will be frustrating for the meat department," Cremer said. On the National Pork Board website, its president Conley Nelson said, "the new names will help change the way consumers and retailers talk about pork– but more importantly, the simpler names will help clear up confusion that consumers currently experience at the meat case, helping to move more pork in the long-term." Harry said the new names, however, will just confuse customers. "It's been a long time that we've been ordering it this way. Why would they have to change it?" she said. "It's not right. No. Uh-uh." The two meat industry groups hope the move will boost sales coming out of the recession, which Cremer admits have been noticeably sluggish the past few years. The pork and beef industries are "going to throw lots of money at this, and it's probably going to be successful in the overall big-box picture, but, for us, it probably won't be much of a change," Cremer said, adding he won't be changing labels on his meat cuts because of this industry shift. Again, while stores aren't required to go by these new naming standards, many do. The pork and beef industries said consumers can expect to see changes as this warm-weather grilling season heats up. With these new retail names, shoppers will also see on the label what part of the animal's body the cut is from. There will also be recommended cooking instructions on the label. Thanks to sister station, KWWL. .
An interesting article on the meat production of the world and how our store bought meat has been degraded to a poorer quality, that is being passed on to the consumer. It should re-affirm the fact of knowing where your food is coming from- or raising it yourself. The High Cost of Cheap Meat » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Dart, some of the writing from the article come from questionable sources.... and seem to have a PETA type leaning (eat plant's not animals you get more grain that way...) Admittedly many producers graow animals that are bred for certain charateristics (larger breast on turkeys and chickens, white feathers etc ) As a former chicken grower 60k + on a small farm some of the comments are not accurate or would cost so much or require more land than many small farmers have....
I agree with some of your synopsis of the article but I thought it was food for thought. So many people have no idea where their food comes from let alone the chain of feed ect, that I thought it to be a relevant primer to consider for consumers.
The idea of assembly line meats confirms what I've noticed the last few (many?) years. Supermarket beef doesn't taste like it used to (and it's tougher) neither does chicken. (But bacon is still yummy, even if degraded --.)
We have noticed how the store bought chicken looks super mutant at times- must be pumping them up pretty good on roid's.
We never used any steroids on our chickens... ( we had a chicken farm for over 35 years) if you keep them longer they grow bigger it all depends on the size bird you want.... Other than that making assumption that are not based on facts help no one....
I'm planning to buy a buttload of grass-fed beef at farmer's market this summer and can/jerky the crap out of it
Seven Reason why Chickens are NOT Fed Hormones | Poultry Environmental Management & Energy Conservation You are correct @Witch Doctor 01. I was just making a joke about the apparent size of chickens at the store....I take it back.
Sorry... Just tired of having folks jump all over the small farmer... no harm no foul.... my apologies for being a little too sensitive...
Not a problem- my sense of humor may be a bit off today (trying to be the funny man can get ya poked in the eye). But I do agree with @ghrit that some of the store bought meats just don't taste the same anymore. I think it directly correlates to the factory farming methods. We switched from the regular store bought to our local butcher shop that uses/sells natural fed livestock only. You can deffinately tell the difference in the taste of steak..... If I had the land available, I would be raising my own right now.
I guess that's one advantage of living where I do. For some reason the latino-friendly market near me seems to get their meat from somewhere tasty. Maybe it's from south of the border, I don't know. All I know is that I get inexpensive (okay, cheap) meat, without the fancy names (pork chops are pork chops), and I have yet to get a tasteless or tainted piece of meat.
