Final answer:
The grade 'Commercial' of meat comes from older cattle and lacks tenderness, often used for lower quality beef products. Higher grades like 'Choice' or 'Prime' offer more flavorful and tender meat due to younger cattle with more marbling. Grass-fed beef is often deemed higher in quality compared to grain-fed beef. The correct answer is option (d)
Step-by-step explanation:
The grade Commercial of meat comes from older cattle and generally lacks tenderness. The USDA grades beef quality based on factors such as marbling (intramuscular fat), color, and maturity. The four primary grades are Prime, Choice, Select, and Standard; however, there are lower grades such as Cutter and Canner which are typically used for processed meat products. Commercial grade is a categorization below Select and is often derived from older cattle with less marbling, resulting in less tender meat. This is in contrast to higher grades like Choice or Prime, which come from younger cattle and are known for their flavor and tenderness due to higher levels of marbling.
Understanding the various beef grades is important for consumers since it affects both the taste and price of the beef. Grass-fed beef, for instance, is praised for its perceived health benefits and distinctive flavor and can achieve higher prices in the market. Whether an animal is grass-fed or grain-fed also influences the quality and grade of the resulting beef, with grass-fed beef often considered to be of higher quality by certain standards.