During the war an investigation has been carried out at the Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge, on the food value of beef. The beef animals were specially selected by Dr. J. Hammond, F.R.S. (School of Agriculture, University of Cambridge), and by the Meat and Livestock Division of the Ministry of Food, as being representative of the beef industry as a whole. The work on steers and heifers has already been published (Callow 1944), and that on cows will follow shortly.
When the data from these investigations came to be analysed, it was found that sex, age and breed have only secondary effects on the food value of beef. The important factor is the stage of growth of the animal. In the present paper it is proposed to use this new approach to the old problem of the relation between grading on the one hand, and the food value and quality of beef on the other.