Meat Standards Australia (MSA) is a grading system developed to improve the supply of consistently high quality meat to the beef consumer. MSA is a ‘tenderness guaranteed’ grading program that grades beef based on eating quality.
MSA was developed using consumer taste tests of beef produced over a wide range of cattle breeds, management practices, processing systems, ageing periods and cooking methods for the main cuts of meat. The MSA system grades each muscle (cut) on eating quality, with regards to tenderness, juiciness, flavour and overall liking. The grade can be 3, 4 or 5 star and each cut is labelled accordingly.
MSA certified graders assess carcase attributes collected during processing using a uniform set of standards, and collate information provided by the beef producer, which is then entered into a computer program. Results of grading are allocated to the carcase to produce a MSA score, and a grade is allocated to different cuts along with days of aging required to achieve the grade and the suggested cooking method.
MSA licensed processors ensure all their systems comply with MSA program requirements. The key factors are pre-slaughter handling, processing treatments, carcase grading by a MSA certified grader and product labelling.
Coral Coast Beef is proud to be an accredited MSA producer.