Quality Products

Beef

The quality of Quebec-produced beef stacks up well with that produced elsewhere in Canada and in the United States. Beef quality is measured by the amount of marbling in the meat. Marbling is a distinguishing feature of beef sold in the retail and HRI (hotel, restaurant, and institutional) sectors and makes it possible to supply the various markets with differentiated products. Other measures of quality include uniformity in beef carcass weights, genetics, and age of animals at slaughter.

Grading

The livestock grading program is a key part of the framework governing the sale of beef in Canadian networks. The program sets out common principles of trade, partly through standards that reflect the major market trends. And because payments and prices are based on these standards, they have a twofold effect: they encourage the creation of excellent products while ensuring they are sold using a rational approach.

Beef

Beef grading sorts carcasses according to their conformation, lean meat yield (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5), and degree of marbling (A, AA, AAA, or Prime). Secondly, it separates younger animals (A and B) from older ones (D and E). Finally, it can serve as a basis for paying producers. Grading is designed to give consumers a better product with uniformity and predictable quality within each grade. The top beef grades are Canada Prime, AAA, AA, and A. These grades differ in their amount of marbling, with Canada Prime beef having the highest.

Most Canada Prime beef is sold to restaurants or exported. The Canadian Beef Grading Agency is responsible for the impartial and accurate assessment of beef carcasses.

 

Veal

Quebec veal has made a name for itself. To provide consumers with a high-quality product that meets rigorous criteria, the grain-fed feal sector has the Quebec Certified Grain-Fed Veal program, a mandatory on-farm certification program featuring production standards and specifications. Producers’ adherence to the certification program involves so much more than just the certificate they earn; certification attests to the origin of the product and grain-fed veal producers’ adherence to a notion of quality that engages them in their relations with the market and with consumers.

In the case of milk-fed veal producers, a qualified technician conducts a weekly farm visit to perform a quality control check on the animals, ensuring that they are healthy and that each animal’s dietary and welfare requirements are being followed. This attention is on top of the day-to-day care producers provide. Most Quebec milk-fed veal calves are certified under Canada’s Verified Veal Program, which gives customers the assurance that veal produced in Canada is of the utmost quality.

Grading

The defining characteristics of veal are the young age of the animals (generally 5 to 7 months), their diet, and their weight. Milk-fed veal calves come from mothers belonging to dairy breeds. They mostly consume milk-based feed—unlike their grain-fed veal counterparts whose diet must be at least 50% corn in the finishing stage.

Consumers enjoy veal for its tenderness and subtle flavour.

Veal carcasses with good to excellent muscling and some creamy-white fat deposits are graded CANADA A. Those with low to medium muscling and an excess of fat cover are graded CANADA B. Veal carcasses failing to meet the requirements of CANADA B are graded CANADA C.

Subsequently, grain-fed veal carcasses are graded according to the colour of the meat using a colour meter. According to the measurements taken, the veal carcasses are separated into four colour categories. Bright pink or lighter is considered Category 1, with pinker and redder meats falling into Categories 2, 3, and 4. “Quebec Certified Grain-Fed Veal” receives a Canada A1 or A2 code.

The Canadian Beef Grading Agency is responsible for the impartial and accurate assessment of veal carcasses.