Truth in Advertising?

[Ebenezer]

"Someone bought it, and now it is called
Cattle Guard Steakhouse and Saloon. (I thought that was a dumb name)."
I always thought that a good slogan for a convenience store that sold fuel and had the normal fast food would be: "Eat here and get gas".

 

[Aero]

Picture of a Holstein COW on product labeled certified Angus beef.
Restaurant owner who paid for that got robbed.
Even if Holstein steers have the highest % grading choice. Image is everything.

It might be 50%+ black...

 

[Ky hills]

That and imported beef being labeled as product of the USA. It's all hogwash isn't it.

That’s the thing I can’t understand is why more people aren’t speaking out against the imported beef being labeled as product of USA when it clearly is not.
At least CAB is a product of USA.

 

[Silver]

At least CAB is a product of USA.

Is it?

 

[Ky hills]

Is it?

That’s my understanding…

 

[simme]

I think CAB beef is also produced and sold in Canada.

News Release: Lemoyne brings Canada focus to Certified Angus Beef LLC - CAB Cattle

If you have a plan, it helps to have a person in charge. That’s why CAB® recently hired Martin Lemoyne as its director of Canadian business development.

cabcattle.com

 

[Ky hills]

I think CAB beef is also produced and sold in Canada.

News Release: Lemoyne brings Canada focus to Certified Angus Beef LLC - CAB Cattle

If you have a plan, it helps to have a person in charge. That’s why CAB® recently hired Martin Lemoyne as its director of Canadian business development.

cabcattle.com

@Silver @simme I stand corrected. Thanks for that article, I was wrong on that for sure. I thought that it was limited to US cattle, but per the link it goes back to the early 90’s with including Canadian cattle.
For the record, I have no problem with Canadian beef, if we are going to be importing beef that would be my first choice both in terms of proximity and quality.

 

[Son of Butch]

Why? 75% of the consumers don't know 75% of the breeds anyway, and that's being generous. There was a guy on here once saying dairy beef shouldn't even be labeled as beef. For "the consumer" he said.

You got that right.

Seafood is the most commonly mislabeled product.
One study found that over 75% of red snapper on restaurant menus were actually cheaper fish ie perch, white bass ect being passed off as red snapper.
2012 study found over 1/2 of tuna sold was made up of mislabeled cheaper fish.
It's estimated 20% of seafood sold is mislabeled... and most is not by accident.

 

[50/50Farms]

You got that right.

Seafood this the most commonly mislabeled product.
One study found that over 75% of red snapper on restaurant menus were actually cheaper fish ie perch, white bass ect being passed off as red snapper.
2012 study found over 1/2 of tuna sold was made up of mislabeled cheaper fish.
It's estimated 20% of seafood sold is mislabeled... and most is not by accident.

Whew. I wonder which countries do most of that catching.

 

[StrojanHerefords]

Why? 75% of the consumers don't know 75% of the breeds anyway, and that's being generous. There was a guy on here once saying dairy beef shouldn't even be labeled as beef. For "the consumer" he said.

The Breed Associations should be working for their membership. Something that has been forgotten across all breeds.

 

[50/50Farms]

The Breed Associations should be working for their membership. Something that has been forgotten across all breeds.

Most people don't really care. You will never get the average person to memorize even 10 breeds. As seen above, they don't even have the tastebuds to discern different deep sea fish apart. Most of them have never been deep sea fishing, most of them aren't interested. You could slap a label on anything certifying that it's good and as long as it meets the basic standard for the task and the taste, they'll buy it and extoll its virtues. You are asking a populace that at large doesn't farm, fish, hunt, or grow anything to care about anything other than label buzzwords. If you add a million more buzzwords and labels, a few will take off from curiosity and social media but many consumers will retreat to what they know, just like many people blindly stick to one vehicle brand. We live in an age where 90% of people that aren't rural know two breeds: Angus and Wagyu. I have a younger buddy, he wants to get into ag and asked me about cow breeds and I gave him about twenty that I have owned or worked with and a rundown on them. He came back a month later jumping up and down like a shortstop telling me he found certified Hereford steaks at a rural steakhouse. He'd have never even known what that meant if I hadn't told him.

 

[StrojanHerefords]

I want to sell wine not grape juice. I don't drink but I can name several varieties of wine grapes: syrah, pinot grigio, pinot noir, chardonnay, muscadine, sauvignon blanc. The Wine industry has done a very good job of creating wines for however much a person wanted to spend.

 

[Warren Allison]

@Silver @simme I stand corrected. Thanks for that article, I was wrong on that for sure. I thought that it was limited to US cattle, but per the link it goes back to the early 90’s with including Canadian cattle.
For the record, I have no problem with Canadian beef, if we are going to be importing beef that would be my first choice both in terms of proximity and quality.

The CAB designation is given by the USDA inspectors at slaughter. If you imported live black cattle from Canada and Mexico, and they passed the CAB qualifications then they get it. Besides, the rules are that beef has to be processed or packaged in the US. not born, bred, and raised here. But they do have to have hides on when they step into the kill chute to get CAB.

 

[Ky hills]

The CAB designation is given by the USDA inspectors at slaughter. If you imported live black cattle from Canada and Mexico, and they passed the CAB qualifications then they get it. Besides, the rules are that beef has to be processed or packaged in the US. not born, bred, and raised here. But they do have to have hides on when they step into the kill chute to get CAB.

Yes, I know that cattle are supposed to be qualified for CAB both as live animals and then again upon carcass evaluation.
I was behind times on the imported animals being allowed for CAB. If that is case then it changes my mind completely about CAB, because in light of it likely being imported as well there truly is no point to CAB, nothing to differentiate it from any other equal quality grade. I wonder if CAB is using beef from other countries besides Canada.
I had been erroneously recommending CAB to folks as a product of USA.
This further proves the real issue is not simply black hides it’s the accepted practice of the beef industry importing beef from other countries and packaging it in the US and selling it to the unsuspecting public as product of USA.
We need MCOOL ( Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling). Then we may see a truer valuation by the consumer.
For many price would dictate purchase, but I feel certain that a significant number of consumers would pick USA beef first, and Canadian beef would be far ahead of South American or African beef.

 

[simme]

I may be wrong, but I think that CAB certification includes cattle raised in Canada, slaughtered in Canada, certified in Canada under the auspices of the Canadian Beef Grading Agency, and sold as CAB to those beef eating Canadians. I don't think CAB ever says that the beef is a product of the USA. Just that the beef meets its criteria.

Third Party Certification | Canadian Beef Grading Agency

beefgradingagency.ca

CAB produced in Canada by 4 packers in 4 locations.

From https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/faq.php

IS CERTIFIED ANGUS BEEF ® BRAND A PRODUCT OF THE USA?
The Certified Angus Beef ® brand is made possible by a network of family farmers, ranchers and meat processors across North America. While the majority of cattle that supply the brand are born, raised and harvested in the U.S., we also have partners in Canada that raise, produce and sell Certified Angus Beef ® brand products. We're also the only brand owned and led by the farmer and rancher members of the American Angus Association

All meat sold in the United States and Canada is inspected for safety and wholesomeness, and Certified Angus Beef ® brand products must also meet our additional 10 quality specifications for flavor, juiciness and tenderness.

 

[Travlr]

...and Certified Angus Beef ® brand products must also meet our additional 10 quality specifications for flavor, juiciness and tenderness.

And let's not forget COLOR. That all important, all encompassing, really, really, really important COLOR.

Something that is so important that all else is forgotten regardless of consequences.

 

[Warren Allison]

Yes, I know that cattle are supposed to be qualified for CAB both as live animals and then again upon carcass evaluation.
I was behind times on the imported animals being allowed for CAB. If that is case then it changes my mind completely about CAB, because in light of it likely being imported as well there truly is no point to CAB, nothing to differentiate it from any other equal quality grade. I wonder if CAB is using beef from other countries besides Canada.
I had been erroneously recommending CAB to folks as a product of USA.
This further proves the real issue is not simply black hides it’s the accepted practice of the beef industry importing beef from other countries and packaging it in the US and selling it to the unsuspecting public as product of USA.
We need MCOOL ( Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling). Then we may see a truer valuation by the consumer.
For many price would dictate purchase, but I feel certain that a significant number of consumers would pick USA beef first, and Canadian beef would be far ahead of South American or African beef.

I wouldn't think there would ever be any live animals imported from South America or Africa for slaughter. It would be far more costly and time consuming than importing Canadian or Mexican cattle. No rancher, or buyer or feed lot, or officers of AAA or the marketers for the CAB program have anything at all to do with what carcases get CAB or any other v certified program. You can be a Canadian, or any of the CAB haters on here, and say " I don't care about my cattle getting CAB premiums", but there is no way you can stop a black animal that you owned, that gets graded choice or prime at the processor, from getting CAB status.

As far as the MCOOL goes, not so sure if there would be any difference in a steer born here, weaned and sent to a feedlot, then to a processor, than one that was born and weaned in Canada or Mexico, then sent to a feed lot here, etc. as far as country of origin goes.

 

[Ky hills]

I wouldn't think there would ever be any live animals imported from South America or Africa for slaughter. It would be far more costly and time consuming than importing Canadian or Mexican cattle. No rancher, or buyer or feed lot, or officers of AAA or the marketers for the CAB program have anything at all to do with what carcases get CAB or any other v certified program. You can be a Canadian, or any of the CAB haters on here, and say " I don't care about my cattle getting CAB premiums", but there is no way you can stop a black animal that you owned, that gets graded choice or prime at the processor, from getting CAB status.

As far as the MCOOL goes, not so sure if there would be any difference in a steer born here, weaned and sent to a feedlot, then to a processor, than one that was born and weaned in Canada or Mexico, then sent to a feed lot here, etc. as far as country of origin goes.

I never said anything about live cattle imports, to my knowledge that hasn’t happened yet and would likely be a long time off due to foot and mouth concerns etc. There definitely is however beef from several South American countries , and one African country that is imported and repackaged in the US.
They can get beef from those countries imported cheaper and that makes our US cattle have to compete with those imports, and yes it is a major contributing factor to our prices remaining low.
Without MCOOL, beef from multiple countries is being marketed the same as USA beef.

 

[Warren Allison]

I never said anything about live cattle imports, to my knowledge that hasn’t happened yet and would likely be a long time off due to foot and mouth concerns etc. There definitely is however beef from several South American countries , and one African country that is imported and repackaged in the US.
They can get beef from those countries imported cheaper and that makes our US cattle have to compete with those imports, and yes it is a major contributing factor to our prices remaining low.
Without MCOOL, beef from multiple countries is being marketed the same as USA beef.

You did. "I was behind times on the imported animals being allowed for CAB. If that is case then it changes my mind completely about CAB, because in light of it likely being imported as well there truly is no point to CAB, nothing to differentiate it from any other equal quality grade. I wonder if CAB is using beef from other countries besides Canada." I was pointing out that it is impossible for beef from other countries to be graded CAB by the USDA inspectors, as they didn't come to the processor alive. Don't understand the "is no point to CAB, nothing to differentiate it from any other equal quality grade " comment. CAB has nothing to do with point of origin.
Imported beef is fine with me...I want prices lower, not higher. Need the price of ground beef and diesel both to go below $2.
The US is the largest importer of beef in the world, but it also 3rd largest exporter. So we don't want a lot of gov regulations on our beef that would hurt our exporters.

 

[Ky hills]

You did. "I was behind times on the imported animals being allowed for CAB. If that is case then it changes my mind completely about CAB, because in light of it likely being imported as well there truly is no point to CAB, nothing to differentiate it from any other equal quality grade. I wonder if CAB is using beef from other countries besides Canada." I was pointing out that it is impossible for beef from other countries to be graded CAB by the USDA inspectors, as they didn't come to the processor alive. Don't understand the "is no point to CAB, nothing to differentiate it from any other equal quality grade " comment. CAB has nothing to do with point of origin.
Imported beef is fine with me...I want prices lower, not higher. Need the price of ground beef and diesel both to go below $2.
The US is the largest importer of beef in the world, but it also 3rd largest exporter. So we don't want a lot of gov regulations on our beef that would hurt our exporters.

Fair enough, yes I did say animals, i knew in my mind what I meant, and would have been better to have been clearer on that. The imported meat is still from animals just not live animals.
The imported meat as per my understanding is inspected by USDA.
I agree that I don’t see how the black hide required for CAB could be checked, but per what I read on. CAB is that their Canadian counterpart to the USDA is involved in the process of their cattle.
My comment on CAB being pointless since it is not exclusively a product of USA is self explanatory, there is nothing really to differentiate it from any other beef of equal quality grade. You would expect CAB choice grace steak to be better than a select grade, but then you would also expect a non CAB choice steak to be better than a select as well.
In a direct all things being equal scenario would a CAB choice steak be superior to a Krogers choice steak, maybe, maybe not.
Yes I agree that CAB has nothing directly to do with country of origin labeling. It goes back to me erroneously thinking that CAB was an exclusive product of USA, therefore I promoted it personally as an alternative to the store brand beef.
I think you are seeing the big picture when you are saying, when you want the price of beef to go down, at least with the current industry model. If we were all marketing more direct or at least to more local and regional markets and had a different or at least an alternative marketing system them yes we could actually make more for ourselves as producers and the consumers price would be lower too.
The current industry business model that is set and controlled by the big packers is failing the producers and consumers both.