User:Pdbrock


 *   THIS IS MY PRACTICE PAGE   

Three major sections are included in this guide for pork and beef products that are purchased at farmers markets in the United States:
 * Retail Meat Cuts
 * Processed Meats
 * USDA Official Inspection Legend

Retail Meat Cuts(steak, chuck, flank, etc)
The typical label on a package of unprocessed meat (retail cut) found at farmers markets will include a government (usually USDA) inspection legend plus a Dist. By/Packed For/Prepared For label. Other information on the label will include weight, price, storage instructions, etc. An important question for the consumer is whether the meat came from the vendor’s livestock. See Figure FM1 an example of a typical label.

The official inspection legend has an establishment number (EST) that identifies the last establishment that did the processing, usually butchering, packaging and labeling, of the product. Even though the meat may have originated from the vendor’s livestock, the vendor did not do the butchering, packaging, labeling, etc. Note that all beef and pork products in the United States that are to be sold to the public must originate from livestock slaughtered in a government (federal or state) inspected facility.

Since there is a “Dist. By/Packed For/Prepared For” statement that identifies the vendor it’s difficult to determine whether the product actually originates from the vendor’s livestock. In such cases it depends on the market’s management doing a thorough check of the vendor’s operation, including acreage, verifying livestock breeds, herd size, county/state records, and getting a written confirmation from the USDA/state inspected establishment that the meat packed for that particular vendor originates from its livestock. To provide a vendor/farmer with meat from its livestock the slaughterhouse must have the capability of tracking every head of livestock and its meat products from the time it arrives at the slaughterhouse through slaughtering, butchering, and packaging/labeling; there are additional fees for this kind of service. The market manager should have all supporting documentation. The documentation should also include the type of tracking system employed by the slaughterhouse: RFID (radio frequency identification), hand written labels, etc. Slaughterhouses typically slaughter and process (fabricate in USDA terms) livestock from a number of farmers in order to supply meat to distributors. If the establishment number in not provided in the government inspection legend then it will appear elsewhere on the package.

The most reliable way of ensuring that the meat comes from the vendor’s livestock is to find a vendor whose product labels do not include the “Dist. By/Packed For/Prepared For” statement. Note that the label will still have an official/government Inspection Legend that identifies the establishment that performed the slaughtering, butchering, packaging, and labeling, because any product leaving a slaughterhouse to be sold for human consumption must have a government inspection legend. For example, a label that does not have a “dist. by/packed for”, etc. statement ensures the buyer that, while the vendor did not do the butchering/packaging/etc., the meat did originate from the vendor’s livestock: