Who really cares about the leanness of ground beef?

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September 27, 2019

I got a question from a customer last week - what is the fat content in your ground beef? She wanted to make sure it was lean enough to feed to cats. This really got me thinking.

Why and how do we even know the fat content of ground beef, and should we care? Let’s dive a little deeper.

First, let’s make sure we all know what ground beef is.

Ground beef is typically made from the trimmings or leftover bits when a cow is (or many cows are) butchered. It’s put through a grinder and - voila - ground beef!

Pretty simple, right? Oh, but modern consumerism can make this so much more complicated.

I’m sure you’ve noticed the “types” of ground beef found on supermarket labels.

There’s source ground meat. “Ground chuck” is only made with chuck trimmings, “ground round” is only made with trimmings from the round section of the cow, and “ground sirloin”... well, you get the point.

Then there’s general ground meat. “Ground beef” is made from trimmings of the whole cow. And “hamburger” is the trimmings with added fat.

And, I’m sure you’ve also noticed the “% lean / % fat” descriptor sometimes included on the label.

The USDA does not require this. It is 100% voluntary. However, customers have gotten so accustomed to this label since its introduction about 25 years ago.

But, here’s the catch. There is no regulatory requirement that defines how the company needs to support its label. There’s no standard process for this.

From what I’ve read, there are a few ways to figure out the fat content of meat:

Look at the meat and estimate how much red vs. white is in the ground meat.
Cook the meat and separate the fat/water. Once the fat solidifies, weigh each portion.
Cook a portion of the meat in a lab and strain off the liquid. Use a digital fat tester to find out the fat content.
Use a super high tech electronic and/or sonar device that measures the density of fat or lean in each batch.

Well, here’s another catch. There’s also no requirement to test each batch for fat content.

If they have a consistent process, they could write into their plan that they periodically verify compliance with the label standard. A consistent process would mean the same farm, same breed of cows, same lifestyle, and same processing flow.

This is kind of crazy. Just like humans, cows are genetically inclined to be fatter or leaner. Even with the same diet and lifestyle, you can have different animals of the same breed with different fat contents.

And here’s yet another catch. If a processor is not sure of the lean/fat percentage of a ground or chopped product, the USDA allows processors to label it with a “worse” lean and fat percentage.

So for, example, a processor could label ground beef that is actually 80% lean and 20% fat with a “70% lean / 30% fat” label.

Is it just me? It seems that this whole “% lean / % fat” labeling is a hoax. Why even put the fat content on anyway?

I think companies do it for marketing and price scaling purposes. No surprises there. It’s so companies can get people to pay more by thinking they’re choosing a superior ground beef.

If you believe in the mainstream low-fat diet, a “ground sirloin” that’s “90% lean / 10 % fat” sounds good for $4 more per pound. The company makes more profit on basically the same product. And price hunting customers think they’re getting a deal on “ground beef” that’s “70% lean / 30% fat” that’s $4 less per pound. The company makes money by selling more ground beef.

I spoke with the farmer about this. He does not put the lean/fat percentage on his ground beef and does not make source ground meat. It’s just not necessary and, honestly, it’s inaccurate. It’s just ground beef.

What makes the farmer’s ground beef superior is the way the cows are raised. They are 100% grass-fed (no grain, ever). They live an active lifestyle at pasture. They are never fed GMOs or given antibiotics, hormones, or anything synthetic. And, they are slaughtered as humanely as possible, with minimal time spent alive at the processor.

So, what do you think? Do you need to know the fat content of your meat? What do you look for when buying ground beef?

Pastured Meat

Farming Practices

Opinion

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Who really cares about the leanness of ground beef?

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