(4) The product should show no evidence of freezing, defrosting, or
mishandling. Beef must be maintained in excellent condition through processing,
storage, and transit.
(5)
Dark cutting and/or calloused beef is not acceptable.
(6) All beef shall be practically free of bruises, blood clots, bloody tissue,
blood discoloration, spinal cord portions, exposed blood vessels, cod, and/or udder fat,
gambrel cord, or any other conditions that would negatively affect the use of the
product.
(7) Beef cuts shall be free of dislocated or enlarged joints or other
malformations of the skeletal structure.
(8) The cutting, trimming, and boning of the cuts shall be accomplished with
sufficient care to allow each cut to retain its identity and to avoid objectionable scores in
the lean meat. Ragged edges will be removed close to the lean surface, except for cuts
that are separated through natural seams.
(9)
All cut surfaces shall form approximate right angles with the skin
surface.
(10) No more than a slight amount of lean, fat, or bone shall be removed or
included from an adjacent cut.
c. Identity of Product. Identify the beef item as one of the following IMPS item
numbers and compare to the requirements in the inspection data packet for identity,
quality, and quantity (net weight or count). Institutional meat purchase specifications
item numbers refer to the method by which a carcass is cut up, the following item
descriptions are excerpts from the IMPS and are not always complete.
(1) Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications Item Number 100-Beef
Carcass. The beef carcass shall consist of a forequarter and a hindquarter. The sides
shall be produced by splitting the carcass down the back exposing the spinal groove at
least 75 percent of the length of either side. No more than a minor amount of major
muscles shall be removed from either side. The quarters are produced by splitting the
carcass down the back either completely or partially separating the forequarters from
the hindquarters by a cut following the natural curvature between the 12th and 13th ribs.
The skirt (diaphragm) may be removed, but if not removed, the membranous portion will
be trimmed close to the lean. The thymus gland and heart fat shall be closely removed.
(2) Institutional Meat Purchase Specifications Item Number 100ABeef
Carcass, Trimmed. This item is prepared as described in IMPS item number 100,
except the kidney, kidney knob, adjacent internal fats, and hanging tender are removed.
The fat covering the lumbar, sacral, pelvic, and tenderloin regions shall be trimmed not
to exceed 1.0 inch (2.5 cm) in depth at any point.
MD0710
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