Lower USDA Grading Standards Costing Consumers $ 375 Million

When U.S. consumers purchase beef, they are familiar with selecting meat based on
grade classifications such as “Select,” “Choice,” and “Prime.” These classifications are
not required, but for marketing purposes, slaughter plants' managers can request
government graders to work at their plant to determine these grades for carcasses
of beef.

Before 2009, all such grades were determined by government graders, but since then,
the government has approved the industry’s use of cameras that can photograph and 
automatically assign a grade. Grading using these cameras it can help reduce the 
number of inspectors and has the potential to make grading more consistent. Now 40%
of beef carcasses slaughtered in the U. S. are graded using  cameras to assist in
grading.

The cameras’ grading did not conform to what the graders were doing in the plants
Ultimately, government  agreed to lower the grades. The new lower grading
classifications meant more beef would receive higher grades. Because of the lower
standards , consumers are overpaying more  than $375 million a year for their beef
products.

The camera determines the amount of fat marbling (the white flecks of fat in a rib eye),
along with  other characteristics and gives the carcass a marbling score and a quality
grade, based on established marbling score thresholds set for each grade. However,
inspectors make the final graded determination based on a range of factors other than
the marbling score, such as color, age, and  ribeye area.

In the plants, after carcasses pass through the cameras, AMS graders review
carcasses for factors other than marbling, and also check the camera’s marbling
score. If they believe that the camera’s score is off by 100 or more points,  they can
override the camera.

Many of the graders expressed frustration that they could not override scores

of less than 100 points. Even one industry representative agreed that the graders should

have more flexibility in overriding these scores. These kinds of grading decisions are

especially important when a grader believes that the incorrect score changes the grade

of beef from one quality grade to another.

The guidance states that graders should perform more verifications when they note

problems, but we found that AMS employees were, in essence, told not to perform more

verifications. AMS officials stated that they asked their graders to hold off on

performing more verifications because the system was new. But the system is

now several years old and that these verification checks should be serving a more useful

purpose.

The packing plants to request re-grading of the carcasses when they question whether

the carcass has been graded incorrectly. They can ask for up to six re-grades. Additionally,

with the cameras, plants might re-image a carcass numerous times, hoping for a higher

score and therefore a higher grade. The officials told us the plants always take the

highest score, judging a carcass as “Prime,” even after five other graders or numerous

camera images have called it “Choice.”.

The government  has taken the position that the cameras are more consistent.

While this may be correct, we noted that data showed that some cameras are
consistently grading high or low.