Ground Beef Fat and Lean Content Same in All Stores

Although ground beef is consumed by more Americans than any other meat, about the only thing a consumer can be sure of is the fat and lean content of regular ground beef.

Buy lean, extra-lean or super-lean ground beef and the percentage of lean meat (and, therefore, fat content) will vary from store to store.

Sometimes, percentages won’t even be marked, leaving the customer to guess how much fat or lean meat is contained in packages labeled simply, “ground round” or “ground chuck.”

Leroy Corbin, director of the Bureau of Foods and Chemistry for Pennsylvania’s Department of Agriculture, explained, “Ground beef may not contain more than 30% fat.

“There are no standards for lean and extra-lean ground beef. However, under normal labeling interpretation and that of the law, it is fair to interpret that lean would have to have less fat than the store’s regular ground beef and that extra-lean must contain less fat than the lean.”

The ground beef problem has raised the ire of at least one Washington-based consumer lobbying group. Bonnie Liebman, of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said, “Never mind that no other food contributes more fat to the average diet. Never mind that the Surgeon General and other health officials have been nagging consumers to ‘choose lean meat.’ The fact is that the states don’t require ‘lean ground beef’ to be truly lean.”

She explained, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture says ‘lean’ meat can have no more than 10% fat (by weight) and ‘extra-lean’ no more than 5%. But these policies don’t apply to ground beef.

“In fact, the average fat content of ‘lean’ ground beef sold in supermarkets nationwide is not 10%, it’s 21. The average ‘extra-lean’ is not 5% fat, it’s 17.”

Liebman urged consumers to do some lobbying. She advised, “If your meat market doesn’t display the fat content, tell the store that you and your friends want to know how much fat is in the ground beef you’re buying. If other stores in the area disclose the fat content of their ground beef, make sure your store knows about it.

“Then write to the head of the State Department of Agriculture and urge that retailers be required to:

--Restrict “lean” claims to ground beef with no more than 10% fat by weight.

--Limit “extra-lean” claims to 5% fat or less.

--Prominently disclose the fat content on labels of all ground beef.”

There are several ways butchers can make sure their basic ground beef complies with the 70% lean standard.

Corbin explained, “Some butchers use a pocket-sized color comparison chart that can be held next to ground beef to check the degree of redness. It comes pretty close when it comes to accuracy.

“With experience a butcher will also know if his beef is in compliance. Some operations also buy coarse ground beef from a USDA-inspected processing plant. Products from that plant will be labeled concerning the percentage of fat and lean. The in-store butchers then can add some trimmings from the store.