Pork. Sure, we all love it. But do we truly understand it? The National Pork Board thinks the answer is “no.” After a collaborative two-year study, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Pork Board have of pork and beef. The labels, which overhauls 40 years of board-sanctioned terminology, are intended to help consumers more easily identify a cut of meat and the part of the animal it came from.
“The new names will help change the way consumers and retailers talk about pork,” said Pork Board President Conley Nelson . “The simpler names will help clear up confusion that consumers currently experience at the meat case, helping to move more pork in the long-term.”
Thus, pork butt shall henceforth be known as Boston Roast, which is much clearer if you only think in sports analogies. Other transformations include the pork Porterhouse chop, formerly the pork loin chop, and the New York chop, formerly the top loin chop. Beef cuts will also be getting a makeover, with the flat iron steak retiring in favor of the top blade steak.
Much to everyone’s relief, ground beef will still be called ground beef.
The new packaging will also include cooking instructions, with recommendations for temperature and a 3-minute post-preparation rest period.