As the market changes based on consumers' wishes, more and more meat product will come out with labels such as "natural," "organic" and "grass fed." The price of purchasing this meat is also set upon the labels used. Each label is supposed to define how the meat was processed and sometimes refers to how the cows were treated before being turned into the final product.
Definition
Organic beef has the strictest meat standards across the industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, sets very specific standards for the treatment of the cows, what they are fed, how the meat is processed and whether the meat was grown in the United States or imported from other countries. Each farm must meet standards to be able to be USDA support as well as meet the strict rules and standards set to maintain the organic label. A quick summary of requirements shows that there must be no use of antibiotics, ionophore or implants on the cows themselves throughout the course of their lives. The feed must be vegetarian and not treated with fertilizers, according to the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Natural Beef
Natural Beef standards are much more relaxed than organic standards. Natural beef allows cattle to be given antibiotics but often restricts the use of antibiotics for the last 120 days of their lives, according to the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. Each company can set its own standards for what "natural" means. The USDA has minimal requirements to ensure the label "natural" can be put on the label. These requirements are minimally processed meat, no artificial ingredients and no preservatives in the final product. How the cows are treated during their lives are less restricted than for organic beef.
Grass-Fed Beef
This is yet another classification of how the cattle are fed. The biggest thing to understand is that a label that includes grass fed means the cattle has followed a more natural diet. If the label does not say "grass fed," it means the cattle are fed a combination of grains, hay and grasses. The grains make the cattle fatter than just grass feed alone. Grass fed beef is shown to have leaner cuts of meat and higher amounts of omega-3s and conjugated linoleic acids.
Compared with Non-organic
The only major nutritional difference between the organic and non-organic beef is that organic beef is leaner and contains higher amounts of omega-3 fats. These differences come from how the cows are fed before being harvested. Organic fed beef does have a different taste than non-organic beef. Differences in taste vary from one palate to another. Other concerns such as consuming antibiotics and hormones in the meat and ill effects on humans have not been conclusively found, according to Cornell University.
Brain Diseases
Organic and grass fed beef became popular largely due to the "mad cow" disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy or BSE) in the late 1990s. As a result of this scare, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the use of specific feed bans for what can be fed to cattle. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that in October 2009, further regulations and restrictions were made on the use of what animal byproducts, ruminants, can be used in feed. Since 2003, only three cases of BSE have been reported in the United States, with one sick cow being imported from Canada and one being imported from the United Kingdom.
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