National Beef Tenderness Survey—2015: Palatability and Shear Force Assessments of Retail and Foodservice Beef

Abstract

Beef retail steaks from establishments across 11 US cities and beef foodservice steaks from establishments in 6 US cities were evaluated using Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) force and consumer sensory panels. The average postfabrication aging time of steaks at retail establishments was 25.9 d with a range of 6 to 102 d, and those from foodservice establishments averaged 31.5 d with a range of 3 to 91 d. The retail steaks with the lowest WBS value (P < 0.05) was the boneless top loin, compared to the top round steaks, which had the higher (P < 0.05) average WBS value. For the foodservice sector, top loin and ribeye steaks had the lowest (P < 0.05) WBS values, whereas the top sirloin represented the highest (P < 0.05) WBS values. The top blade retail steaks received among the highest consumer ratings (P < 0.05), whereas the top round and bottom round steaks received among the lowest (P < 0.05) consumer ratings for overall liking, tenderness liking, tenderness level, flavor liking, and juiciness liking. For the foodservice sector, the ribeye and top loin steaks were rated higher (P < 0.05) than top sirloin steaks for all consumer rating categories. The WBS values and sensory ratings were comparable to previous surveys, indicating no substantial changes in tenderness. Additional emphasis in improving the tenderness of top and bottom round steaks is necessary to increase consumer acceptability of these cuts.

Survey of Quality Attributes of Beef from Farmers Market Vendors

“…WBS force values were not found to differ (P � 0.5951) among Farmers Market ribeye, top loin, or top sirloin steaks. ese results are in agreement with findings from both the 2010 and 2015 NBTS by Guelker et al [8] and Martinez et al [9]; respectively, who found no significant differences in WBS force values between retail ribeye, top loin, and top sirloin steaks. ese similarities can be attributed, in part, to the muscles that are in each of these three steak cuts.…”

“…As the industry continues to cope with increases in carcass size, merchandising techniques and steak thicknesses have fluctuated to achieve desired portions. Martinez et al [9] found boneless top loins were thicker than boneless ribeyes and top sirloins. Voges et al [11] also reported a greater mean steak thickness for ribeye and top loin steaks than top sirloin steaks.…”

“…Guelker et al [8] found similar results with retail ribeye steaks having the highest percentage, of these three cuts, in the "very tender" category; as well as top loin steaks being the only cut to have representation in all four categories. However, Voges et al [11] and Martinez et al [9] reported that retail top loin steaks outperformed ribeye and top sirloin steaks with the highest percentage in the "very tender" category at 98.7% and 95.9%, respectively. Additionally, Martinez et al [9] also reported retail ribeye steaks as the only cut having representation in all four categories.…”

“…As mentioned previously, retail steaks were only used for direct comparison of consumer sensory panel ratings. Data provided by the National Beef Tenderness Surveys [7][8][9]11] allowed for a national comparison of WBS force values collected in this study. WBS force values for Farmers Market steaks are reported in Table 6.…”

“…With respect to beef sold at Farmers Markets, little is known about the quality and consistency of these products. Nationwide studies, such as the National Beef Tenderness Surveys (NBTS) [7][8][9][10][11], have been used by researchers and the beef industry to monitor tenderness and consumer acceptability of beef steaks sold in the United States. As a result of the NBTS, data on tenderness of beef across the United States for both the retail and foodservice sectors are available [7][8][9]11], but they were not designed to evaluate quality and consumer acceptability of beef sold at niche-type markets.…”