American Criollo Beef Alliance

Sign up for Criollo Specials or Criollo Ranching emails!Enter Email Address The American Criollo Beef Association (ACBA) is proud to provide pre-harvest proof of the tenderness and lean quality of Certified Criollo Beef. As a consumer, you can reasonably ask, "OK, HOW do you know what kind of meat a particular animal will provide until after you harvest that animal?" The industry-wide standard that provides pre-harvest information about what to expect from the meat from a particular animal is DNA testing. Specifically, Meat Quality, also known as Marbling, (a measure of the intramuscular fat to expect in the meat from any given animal) and Tenderness (how much shear force does it take to cut/chew a piece of meat from that animal) can be predicted, with high levels of confidence, from DNA testing. The American Criollo Beef Association made the decision, upon inception, that each and every Criollo be DNA tested for Tenderness,and Meat Quality (Marbling). This testing must be completed, with acceptable scores, prior to that animal being accepted in the Certified Criollo Beef Registry (as seedstock), or before entering the grass-fed Certified Criollo Beef Program, to be marketed to the consumer. Tenderness of meat is largely determined genetically. Proof of tenderness, post-harvest, is demonstrated with precise, objective laboratory tests, measuring the shear strength needed to cut a piece of beef. The American Beef Industry has found exceptional correlation between DNA marker testing scores and post-harvest meat tenderness testing. DNA testing for tenderness is expressed on a scale of 0 to 10; a score of 4, 5 or 6 indicates the eating experience of meat from that animal will be a good one. A score of 7 or higher promises a superior eating experience--as in being able to cut that animal's with a fork! Criollo, genetically, are naturally tender. DNA testing of registered Criollos reveals that Criollo usually score at least 4 on the tenderness scale, with an average of 6.95. Kobe beef, by contrast, only averages 5.82 on a scale of 10; Black Angus averages 6.21.Click here to see a Benchmark Comparison between our Certified Criollo Beef and the Angus, Kobe/Wagyu, and Texas Longhorn. The ACBA has established the benchmark for Certified Criollo Beef is a minimum score of 4; Criollos scoring 7 or higher are designated "Elite Tender." Criollo who score less than 4 on the Tenderness scale will NOT qualify for the Certified Criollo Beef program. Click here to see an example ofIgenity DNA Test Results. Meat Quality (Marbling) is the measure of intra-muscular fat in the meat of the animal; due to the USDA's grading system, the Meat Quality (Marbling) grade determines the final value of each individual animal's meat. The desirable grades are Select, Choice and Prime. Less than 1% of beef grades out as Prime.Intra-muscular fat from marbling contributes to juiciness and flavor of the meat, but has nothing to do with tenderness. DNA markers for Meat Quality (Marbling) indicate that Criollo are genetically programmed to be lean. Interestingly, since their meat is predominantly red muscle fibers, rather than white muscle fibers as is found in the European beef breeds), Criollos are capable of marbling in a shorter feeding period than most other beef animals. Similar to Tenderness, DNA test results on Meat Quality (Marbling) are expressed on a scale of 0 to 10. A score of 4, 5 or 6 indicates that animal's meat has sufficient Meat Qualit