The Livestock, Poultry, and Seed Program provides certification of meat carcasses for a number of marketing programs that make claims concerning breed and carcass characteristics. These characteristics go beyond the requirements for official USDA grades. Certification is often the basis for approval of meat product labels making a variety of marketing claims. The carcass certification programs vary widely in the level of claims for “quality”, in order to provide program originators and purchasers of certified products with the best service.

For more information and assistance, contact Darrell Dowd at Darrell.dowd@ams.usda.gov or (720) 685-7033.