Glossary

Animal Welfare & Production Practices

Animal-Welfare Certifications (Certified Humane, GAP) — Third-party standards for housing, handling, and care.
Humanely Raised — Livestock raised under standards that promote natural behaviors, reduced stress, and better welfare.
Antibiotic Usage — Refers to how and when antibiotics are administered; responsible programs restrict use to treating illness under veterinary oversight.
No Added Hormones & Responsible Antibiotics — Beef may be raised without added hormones; antibiotics, if ever used, follow stewardship and withdrawal rules.
Never-Ever Program — Certification meaning the animal was never given antibiotics, hormones, or animal by-products during its life.
Minimally Processed — Meat handled with only simple steps (e.g., cutting, grinding, packaging) and without artificial additives.
Grass-fed — Cattle primarily eat grasses/forage after weaning; typically leaner flavor profile.
Grass-finished — Cattle eat only grasses/forage until harvest (no grain finish); usually leaner, more minerality.
Grain-finished — Cattle receive a grain ration before harvest, increasing marbling and buttery flavor.
Regenerative Grazing (AMP) — Adaptive, rotational grazing that restores soil, water cycles, and biodiversity.

Beef Marbling Score (BMS) — A 1–12 scale (common in Wagyu) rating visible marbling; higher = richer.
Marbling — Intramuscular fat specks that melt during cooking, boosting juiciness and taste.
USDA Choice — Second-highest grade; slightly less marbling than Prime but still very tender and flavorful.
USDA Prime — The highest U.S. beef grade, with abundant marbling for maximum tenderness and flavor.
Wagyu (and Wagyu-cross) — Japanese-origin genetics known for ultra-fine marbling; “cross” blends Wagyu with other breeds.

Dry-aged beef — Beef rested in a controlled, ventilated environment to intensify flavor and tenderness.
Wet-aged beef — Beef aged in vacuum bags; tenderizes with a cleaner, beef-forward flavor.
Maillard Reaction — High-heat browning that creates the steak’s savory crust and deep flavor.

Cold Chain — Unbroken temperature control from harvest to delivery; key to safety and quality.
Sushi Grade — An informal marketing term for fish deemed safe and high-quality for raw consumption, typically implying careful handling and freezing to reduce parasite risk.
Sashimi-grade — Industry term indicating fish selected and handled for safe raw consumption under strict cold-chain and freezing practices.
Traceability — The ability to follow a product from source to plate (vessel/farm → processor → you).
Wild-caught — Fish harvested from natural waters with regulated quotas and gear types. Their active lifestyle typically makes them bolder in flavor and more “salmon-y”.
Farm-raised (fish) — Fish bred and grown in controlled aquaculture systems; quality depends on feed, water management, and farming practices. Farmed salmon is typically more mild and buttery.