These days the butcher shop can be as confusing as the bread and cereal aisles when it comes to labeling and what terms actually signify a healthier product. Here’s a quick overview of what each label term indicates, as well as what some don’t indicate, when on meat or poultry.
1
ORGANIC
If organic is preferred, make sure to choose a product with the label “certified organic,” which signifies the animals were fed a 100% organic diet and were given no hormones or antibiotics.
2
GRASS-FED
Suggests the animal was fed grass for all or part of its life and that the animal has had some access to the outdoors. However, there is little regulation over the span of time that both of these occur in an animal’s life.
“Grass-fed” should not be used as an indicator that the animal was not given antibiotics or hormones and does not mean the animal was fed a 100% organic diet. See page 142 for the nutritional aspects of grass-fed meat.
3
FREE-RANGE
Suggests that the animal had access to the outdoors, but does not necessarily mean the animal was raised outdoors, on farmland (vs. on concrete or in cages), or had space to move around freely.
4
NO ANTIBIOTICS
Exactly what it says: No antibiotics were given to the animal.
5
NO HORMONES
When it comes to beef, this means that no hormones were given while the calf was being raised. However, hormones may have been given to its mother to stimulate ovulation or milk production.
This label signifies nothing on poultry and pork, since it is against federal guidelines to give hormones to those animals being raised for consumption.
6
NATURAL
Sounds a lot better than what it really signifies because of its loose usage, but it means the animal product was minimally processed and has had no colorings or artificial ingredients added.
7
FRESH
Signifies that the product was never frozen.
8
QUALITY
The USDA labels Prime, Choice, and Select for beef indicate the amount of marbling and are a good indication of how tender or juicy a cut will be.
Prime has the highest amount of marbling or fat. It’s often from younger cattle and is usually the most tender and juiciest when cooked.
Choice has slightly less marbling and fat. Some cuts will be tender and juicy, but others may require certain cooking methods to make them more tender.
Select has the least amount of marbling and fat, which means it will not be as tender and juicy. However, marinating can help with these aspects, as well as add flavor.