Certified Black Angus Characteristics

The Certified Angus Beef organization is a nonprofit subsidiary of the American Angus Association and was first founded in 1978. The organization was developed to help identify high-quality standards in beef once the USDA lowered its standards on Prime and Choice grades. Black Angus beef must pass a strict 10-point specification standard before it may be officially certified. The Certified Angus Beef organization operates independently from the American Angus Association and works with 13,000 business partners in more than 30 countries around the world.

  1. Black Angus Live Animal Identification

    • A phenotype for certified Black Angus beef has been specified, with the animal needing 51 percent of its hair coat to be solid black or be enrolled in the AngusSource program. This is a genetics program that ensures the animals have a minimum of 50 percent of the Angus beef heredity. Cattle must be sired by a registered Black Angus bull. This improves the chances for higher-quality marbling, although no live animals are certified. This is done later at the packinghouse cooler where both the live specifications and the carcass specifications must both be met before the beef can earn the certification. Most cattle (85 percent) fail to meet the requirements because of insufficient marbling.

    Certified Black Angus Carcass Specifications

    • Black Angus beef has to pass an additional nine specifications to earn the strict certification. The marbling of the beef must contain a medium to fine texture with superior muscling found on the carcass. Each animal must also be free from all but the most minor capillary ruptures. Restrictions disallow any neck hump on cattle in excess of two inches. Dark cutters, a condition where muscles appear very dark in meat, caused by decreased amounts of glycogen in muscles prior to slaughter, are also disallowed. Animals must reach an ̶0;A̶1; level of maturity for both skeletal and lean characteristics. The hot carcass weight of the cattle must be below 1,000 pounds with less than one inch of fat thickness on the animal. The ribeye portion of the beef must also be from 10 to 16 inches.

    Certified Angus Beef Brand Natural

    • Certified Angus Beef Brand Natural comes from farms and ranches in the U.S. that are dedicated to raising the cattle on a strict vegetarian diet and free from any added hormones or antibiotics. Feeding and monitoring of cattle is strictly enforced, and all cattle are traceable to their birthplace. In addition, the Natural label must also adhere to the standards and specifications for flavor and quality to receive the Black Angus Beef certification.