Study objective-To determine the effect of marital status on mortality for men. In particular, to examine whether subgroups of unmarried men (widowed, single, and divorced/separated men) have a similar mortality to married men. Design-Cohort study Setting-Whitehall civil on relatively small cohorts and are therefore unable to examine cause-specific mortality in any detail.7-9 " Attention has mainly been paid to mortality in widowers compared with married men10 13 14 or has focused on the mortality of married versus unmarried men.7-9 1 l This assumes that widowed, separated/divorced, and never married men will experience similar mortality, obscuring possible differences in these groups.In disease aetiology, marriage may be both an acute stressor (for example the emotional trauma of widowhood or divorce) and a protector (for example, the social support provided by a spouse). 5 Changes in neural, hormonal, and immunological control sytems in unmarried men have been postulated to result in a broad array of diseases.4 1617 This has led to the idea that unmarried men are more susceptible to ill health. '6 18 This is a large cohort study ofmiddle aged men, followed up for 18 years. It has collected data on marital status at baseline and on several important risk factors that may act as possible confounders or intermediaries in the relationship between marital status and mortality. It is therefore suitable for exploring whether a generalised increase in mortality for different causes is seen for all unmarried men, as predicted by the general susceptibility theory, and whether the increased risk seen in unmarried men is related to differences in established risk factors. MethodsIn the Whitehall study 18

--Cohort study. SETTING--Civil service offices in London, England. PARTICIPANTS--There were 17,718 male civil servants aged 40 through 64 years at the time of study entry between 1967 and 1969. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Mortality from major cause groups. RESULTS--There were 4022 deaths in the cohort over the 18 years of follow-up. Total mortality increased with cholesterol level, although mortality in the small group with very low cholesterol levels (5% of study population) was nonsignificantly higher (P greater than .5) than that of the remainder of the lowest quintile cholesterol group. Coronary heart disease mortality increased with increasing cholesterol concentration from the lowest levels (P less than .001 for trend). The cancer mortality rate in the group below the fifth centile of the cholesterol distribution was higher than in the remainder of the cohort for lung (P less than .001), pancreas (P = .05), liver (P = .09), and all smoking-related cancers (P = .02). Only for lung cancer was there a consistent inverse trend with cholesterol level (P less than .01). Rates of mortality due to non-neoplastic respiratory disease were inversely related to cholesterol level (P less than .001). Health state at the time of examination and socioeconomic position were related to cholesterol concentration--subjects in lower employment grades, with disease at baseline, with a history of recent unexplained weight loss, or who had been widowed had lower initial cholesterol levels. These associations largely accounted for the relationships between cholesterol level and noncardiovascular mortality. CONCLUSIONS--The inverse associations between plasma cholesterol concentration and mortality from certain causes of death seen in cohort studies could be because the participants with low cholesterol levels possess other characteristics that place them at an elevated risk of death.

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Consumers in SanFrancisco, California and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA were asked to purchase, in simulated retail markets, beef retail cuts of different grades, Choice versus Select (equivalent to Good), or of different trim levels, Regular Trim (no more than 13 mm of external fat; Philadelphia only), Extra Trim (no more than 8 rnm of external fat) or Super Trim (no external fat), all priced at Parity or Premium (Parity plus 10%) prices. Consumers in Philadelphia purchased signijicantly more Extra Trim and Super Trim steaks and roasts than Regular Trim. At the time of purchase, consumers in both cities could not detect the visual differences in Choice versus Select, but upon eating them found thatChoice cuts were better tasting, but also fatter, and that Select cuts were leaner, but had problems with taste and texture. Both Choice and Select were rated high for consumer acceptance, but for different reasons, taste for Choice, leanness for Select.

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To assess the then-current population of fed beef cattle for quality defects, the federally inspected beef steer and heifer slaughter in 28 packing plants was surveyed during a 3-mo period (October to December 1991). Data were collected over the course of 1 d of production at chain speed. Carcasses were selected randomly to include 50 and 10% of each lot on the slaughter floor and in the cooler, respectively. Slaughter floor defects evaluated were brand location and size, degree of bruising, grubs and injection sites, condemnation of offal, and the presence of mud and horns. USDA grade factors and other data were collected in the cooler. The distribution of hot-iron brand scars on the hide for the sample was as follows: cattle with no brand, 55.0%; cattle with butt brands, 29.9%; cattle with side brands, 13.8%; and cattle with shoulder brands, .8%. In addition, 83.3, 85.6, 76.6, 97.3, 99.9, and 99.8% of the carcasses had no superficial bruising in the chuck, rib, loin, round, brisket, and other areas of the carcass, respectively. The incidence of viscera condemnations for livers, lungs, tripe, and total viscera were 19.2, 5.1, 3.5, and .1%, respectively. Means for the carcass traits were as follows: USDA yield grade, 3.1; hot carcass weight, 344.7 kg; adjusted fat thickness, 1.5 cm; longissimus muscle area, 83.4 cm2; kidney, pelvic, and heart fat, 2.2%; USDA quality grade, high Select; marbling score, Small-minus; and overall maturity, A69.

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