In the US beef is graded for quality and consistency by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) into eight different grades: Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter, and Canner, going from highest to lowest. Most Prime and Choice meat is served in restaurants while only two percent of all beef in the US is designated as Prime grade.
USDA Prime Beef - Most Prime beef comes from young beef cattle. The marbling (the amount of fat interfused with lean meat) is considered to be slightly abundant and the meat is largely consumed at high end restaurants around the country.
USDA Choice - Observable marbling but in low quantities. This grade is popular with home cooking and barbeque cooks. 50% of all US beef is categorized as Choice, which includes three sub-levels of beef. Premium is one of those sub-categories but mainly used for marketing purposes and not to be mixed up with Prime. Choice beef generally contains 4-10% fat.
USDA Select - This grade is generally leaner than higher grades but very consistent in quality. Although it has lower levels of marbling and is therefore not as juicy and flavorful as the higher grades, the meat is quite tender. This grade has a slight amount of marbling.
USDA Standard or Commercial - This grade has nearly no marbling and is great for making stews or dishes with ground beef, but is not recommended for cooking on the grill. When meat does not have an obvious grade on the label, it is most likely categorized as standard or commercial. It has about 2% fat.
USDA Utility, Cutter, Canner - This grade of beef is added to soups and other canned food by commercial food producers and is regarded as the lowest grade of beef. You will not find this grade in the supermarket.
Certified Angus Beef is another kind of grading system that helps consumers identify quality beef. Angus is not as much a quality control system but an actual breed of cattle. A further eight specifications concerning tenderness, marbling, and consistency of flavor, in addition to the ones applied to USDA Choice, are used to certify beef before it can be graded as Angus.
Angus beef originates from Aberdeen Angus, a Scottish cattle breed that is predominantly black or red in color, and consists of strong medium-sized animals. Angus beef is known for its high amount of fatty tissue and is therefore loved by meat eaters, making a tasty and flavorful steak due to its higher degree of marbling. The marbling enhances the tenderness when cooking the meat and keeps the meat moist when grilling at high temperatures.
Certified Angus Beef (CAB) - The American Angus Association (AAA) created this trademarked brand to market and promote quality beef. The high standards set by the AAA stipulates that each carcass needs to pass ten rigorous quality control standards in order to be granted the CAB logo. In addition, the meat also needs to have been certified as USDA Prime or as one of the sub-categories of USDA Choice. CAB is also higher in price as the AAA charges a fee to certify the cattle and adds other charges on top of that thereafter. The main element of the CAB certification is actually not related to certifying that cattle is of the distinguished Angus breed, but lies in the confirmation that the cattle has a black hide which is a sign that there are Angus genes in the cattle, although not guaranteed.
Many stores use labels such as Certified Angus Beef and USDA Prime Beef for their own marketing purposes without the official certification. However, if in doubt ask your butcher, as he or she will undoubtedly know best.