title: Survey of Mexican retail stores for US beef product.
abstract: Retail packages (N=1004) containing fresh US beef in display cases in five cities across three regions of Mexico were surveyed for cut types, cutting styles, fat thickness measurements, marbling scores, and USDA Quality Grades to gain an overview of fresh US beef in Mexican retail markets. Data were analyzed to generate frequency distributions and examine the effect of city, geographical region, store chain, and socio-economic status of the targeted clientele on type, cutting style, fat measures and quality of beef cuts of US origin. Top round, bottom round and knuckle were the most common cut types. Milanesa-type slice and "bistec" (steak for grilling) were the predominant cutting styles. Over 95% of the retail cuts were trimmed to 3.2mm or less of external fat. Most cuts were USDA Select (74.5%) and USDA Choice (24.5%). External fat thickness and marbling score differed among cities and store chains (P<0.01).
authors.affiliation: US Meat Export Federation, Jaime Balmes 8, Piso 6 Despacho 602 C, Col. Los Morales Polanco, Mexico City, D.F. C.P. 11510, Mexico. Electronic address: nhuerta@usmef.org.mx.
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Huerta-Leidenz
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruíz-Flores
authors.forename: Ema
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maldonado-Siman
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valdéz
authors.forename: Keith E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Belk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D005511:Food Handling / Q000592:standards*; D063427:Food Quality; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000592:standards*; D008800:Mexico; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000737:chemistry; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D016885:United States Department of Agriculture
keywords: Beef retail; External fat; Marbling; Merchandising; Mexico; Seam fat