Designation: F2925 – 11

Standard Specification for

Tenderness Marketing Claims Associated with Meat Cuts

Derived from Beef1

This standard is issued under the fixed designation F2925; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year of

original adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval. A

superscript epsilon ( ́) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.

1. Scope

1.1 This specification covers requirements for incorporating

a tenderness marketing claim to finished labeling, advertisements, or promotions, or a combination thereof, associated

with beef cuts to distinguish product value in the marketplace.

1.2 The marketing claim requirements in this specification

can be used by all parties interested in highlighting production

and marketing practices of tender beef muscles/cuts in finished

labeling, advertisements, or promotions, or a combination

thereof, to distinguish their products in the marketplace. A

tenderness marketing claim standard for beef cuts facilitates

communication by enhancing the understanding of finished

product expectations among producers, processors, and consumers.

1.3 Beef cuts being considered for this tenderness marketing

claim will be certified through third party auditing activities.

Firms seeking these services must adhere to the standard

practices associated with this specification as recognized by the

certifying body.

1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as

standard. No other units of measurement are included in this

standard.

1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the

safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the

responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

2. Referenced Documents

2.1 ASTM Standards:2

F2463 Terminology for Livestock, Meat, and Poultry

Evaluation Systems

3. Terminology

3.1 For additional definitions related to livestock, meat, and

poultry, see Terminology F2463.

3.2 Definitions:

3.2.1 beef, n—flesh of an adult domestic bovine (as a steer

or cow) used as food.

3.2.2 Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications, IMPS,

n—set of purchase specifications maintained by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture that addresses meat handling, refrigeration, and packaging; code referenced descriptions for

beef, lamb, veal, pork, goat, variety meats, sausages, and

cooked meat products; and quality assurance provisions recommended for use by any quality control activity.

3.2.3 longissimus, n—muscle that arises as the middle and

largest entity of the sacrospinal muscles that is attached by

some of its fibers to the lumbar vertebrae, inserted into all the

thoracic vertebrae, and depresses the ribs and extends the

spinal column and bends it to one side.

3.2.3.1 Discussion—Also called longissimus dorsi (LD).

3.2.4 marketing claim, n—proclamation that identifies a

particular product feature or benefit to distinguish a product

from others in the marketplace.

3.2.5 shear force, n—maximum load required to shear a

specimen in such a manner that the resulting pieces are

completely clear of each other.

3.2.6 slice shear force, SSF, n—mechanical device/

methodology used to determine meat tenderness through shear

force measurements taken from cross-sectional samples of a

specimen (for example, steak).

3.2.7 tenderness, n—degree of yielding texture possessed

by a specimen (for example, steak); ease of which a specimen

(for example, steak) is torn, cut, or sheared.

3.2.8 Warner-Bratzler shear force, WBSF, n—mechanical

device/methodology used to determine meat tenderness

through shear force measurements taken from core samples of

a specimen (for example, steak).

1 This test method is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F10 on

Livestock, Meat, and Poultry Evaluation Systems and is the direct responsibility of

Subcommittee F10.60 on Livestock, Meat and Poultry Marketing Claims.

Current edition approved Sept. 1, 2011. Published October 2011. DOI: 10.1520/

F2925-11. 2 For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, or

contact ASTM Customer Service at service@astm.org. For Annual Book of ASTM

Standards volume information, refer to the standard’s Document Summary page on

the ASTM website.

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Copyright © ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959, United States.
4. Claim Considerations

4.1 Minimum Tenderness Threshold Value (MTTV)—A

MTTV for WBSF and SSF of 4.4 and 20.0 kg (43.1 and 196.1

[N], SI units of specification for force, Newton), respectively,

is representative of instrumental and sensory research conducted with tender beef (1-3).

3 Moreover, a 0.5-kg (5.0-N)

difference in WBSF (4.6 kg (46.0-N) for SSF) represents the

difference in WBSF force that the average consumer can detect

when consuming meat at home (4). Additionally, surveys

conducted with regard to tenderness indicate that this MTTV

will accommodate many cattle in our current national population (5).

4.1.1 Relationship to LD:

4.1.1.1 If the carcass LD is directly measured or predicted

by a recognized methodology or technology or both and the LD

meets the MTTV, then the tensor fascia latae, rectus femoris,

vastus medialis, psoas major, infraspinatus, spinalis dorsi, teres

major, and serratus ventralis muscles will also qualify as being

tender without having to be measured.

4.1.1.2 All other muscles should not qualify through

measurement/prediction of the LD as being tender unless

directly measured and meet the requirement on their own

merits.

4.1.2 Meat Cuts Derived from Qualifying Muscles:

4.1.2.1 Meat cuts considered for the tender claim shall be

fabricated in a manner such that the claim is substantiated by

lean tissue derived from qualifying muscles being 90 % by

weight of the total lean content of the meat cut. Moreover,

guidelines for appropriate preparation and thermal process for

each covered meat cut shall be made available to the end user.

4.1.2.2 Examples:

(1) IMPS Item No. 191A—Beef loin, tenderloin, butt,

defatted.

(2) IMPS Item No. 1185B—Beef loin, bottom sirloin butt,

ball tip steak.

4.1.3 Inherently Tender—Only inherently tender meat products shall qualify. Inherently tender meat is that which has not

been subjected to further processes not typically used during

the conversion of muscle to meat. Examples of these are

enhancement through marination (injection and tumbling),

mechanical tenderization (blade or needle), and chemical

tenderization. Inherent processes include, but are not limited

to, electrical stimulation (during harvest), carcass suspension

techniques, and aging (carcass, primal, or subprimal, or a

combination thereof).

5. Claim Requirements

5.1 Certified Tender—This claim applies to qualifying meat

cuts (4.1.2) from the beef carcass that have not been enhanced

or processed to be tender as described in 4.1.3. The current

recognized technologies for this measurement are the WBSF

and SSF devices that meet the MTTV of 4.4 and 20.0 kg (43.1

and 196.1 N), respectively, on meat cooked to a targeted 71°C

using American Meat Science Association (AMSA) research

guidelines (6). The number of days postmortem for this

measurement will be documented for validation purposes.

5.2 Certified Very Tender—This claim applies to qualifying

meat cuts (4.1.2) from the beef carcass that have not been

enhanced or processed to be tender and exceeds the MTTV by

at least 0.5 kg (5.0 N) for WBSF or 4.6 kg (46.0 N) for SSF.

6. Product Marking

6.1 When conducted in accordance with this practice, the

products meeting the requirements can be claimed to be

“certified tender” or “certified very tender” if reference to this

practice is made and labeling approval is granted from the

appropriate food regulatory authority(ies).

7. Keywords

7.1 beef; longissimus; marketing claim; shear force; slice

shear force; tenderness; Warner-Bratzler shear force

REFERENCES

(1) Platter, W. J., Tatum, J. D., Belk, K. E., Koontz, S. R., Chapman, P. L.,

et al., “Effects of marbling and shear force on consumers’ willingnessto-pay for beef strip loin steaks,” J. Anim. Sci., Vol. 83, 2005, pp.

2863–2868.

(2) Executive Summary—2005 National Beef Tenderness Survey, Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, 2006,

www.beefresearch.org.

(3) Wheeler, T. L., Shackelford, S. D., and Koohmaraie, M., “The

accuracy and repeatability of untrained laboratory consumer panelists

in detecting differences in beef longuissimus tenderness,” J. Anim.

Sci., Vol. 82, 2004, pp. 557–562.

(4) Miller, M. F., Hoover, L. C., Cook, A. L., Guerra, A. L., Huffman, K.

L., et al., “Consumer acceptability of beef steak tenderness in home

and restaurant,” J. Food Sci., Vol. 60, 1995, pp. 963–965.

(5) Voges, K. L., Mason, C. L., Brooks, J. C., Delmore, R. J., Griffin, D.

B., et al., “National beef tenderness survey—2006: Assessment of

Warner-Bratzler shear and sensory panel ratings for beef from US

retail and foodservice establishments,” Meat Sci., Vol. 77, 2007, pp.

357–364.

(6) Research guidelines for cookery, sensory evaluation and instrumental

tenderness measurements of fresh meat, American Meat Science

Association, 1995, www.meatscience.org.

3 The boldface numbers in parentheses refer to a list of references at the end of

this standard.

F2925 – 11

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F2925 – 11

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