By Philip Kimball CAE and Ann Wells, NAMP

The new, completely revised NAMP Meat Buyer’s Guide® offers you a lot of new features that make the edition on your desk now outdated in today’s meat and poultry trading. And it took nearly 100 people in three countries two years to make it all happen. It’s an incredible story.

First, the scope of the new edition was broadened beyond the U.S. to include Canada and Mexico — in keeping with today’s trading environment and NAMP’s mission as a North American association.

It includes Canadian Grading standards, terminology and cut descriptions, as well as updated language on current USDA, CFIA and industry standards.

It also includes Mexican Spanish translations of all meat cut names — for the Mexican meat trade and U.S. and Canadian Hispanic users.

Other new features include:

l 54 new items: 17 beef, nine lamb, seven veal, seven pork, and 14 variety meats and edible byproducts.

l Additional, updated and clarified item descriptions in all sections.

l 78 new photographs.

l New beef value cuts, such as the Denver Cut, Chuck Delmonico Steaks, Chuck Eye Country-Style Ribs and Western Griller.

l An expanded beef boneless chuck section with the Chuck Roll Three-Way, with access to key single muscles for steak and processing applications.

l New lamb value cuts, including the flank steak, boneless pectoral meat, a notched and split short loin, a semi boneless lamb leg steamship.

l New information on Australian and Canadian beef, and U.S. beef, veal and lamb.

l Updated weight ranges.

l New graphics.

l Expanded glossary.

This, the sixth edition of the book, is endorsed by 20 industry and foodservice associations. It all began in the spring of 2008 with NAMP past president John DeBenedetti of Del Monte Meats as chair the 2010 Revision Committee. Additional committee members and chairs for committees on each individual species were selected.

NAMP members and other industry players worked from the late summer of 2008 through the spring of 2009. Each committee met approximately five times to discuss new items to be added to the guide, as well as updates of existing items.

NAMP staff worked with species groups in the U.S. and around the world to secure additional content that adds value to the new guide. NAMP sincerely appreciates the members’ and industry’s time and expertise to make this new edition possible.

Order yours through the NAMP Web site: www.namp.com. NAMP members get a 35 percent discount. Order today!

Philip Kimball CAE is executive director of NAMP (North American Meat Processors Association), and Ann Wells is director of scientific & regulatory affairs for NAMP.