Cut of beef e.g., the cut described as "brisket" in the US is from a significantly different part of the carcass than British brisket. "Cut" often refers narrowly to skeletal muscle (sometimes attached to bones), but can also include other edible flesh, such as offal (organ meat) or bones without significant muscles attached. The following is a list of the American primal cuts, and cuts derived from them. Beef carcasses are split along the axis of symmetry into "halves", then across into front and back "quarters" (forequarters and hindquarters). Canada uses identical cut names (and numbering) as the U.S, with the exception of
Rendering (animal products) eventually became the single largest use for inedible fats. The widespread use of "boxed beef", where the beef was cut into consumer portions at packing plants rather than local butcher shops and markets, meant that fat and meat scraps for renderers stayed at the packing plants and were rendered there by packer renderers, rather than by the independent rendering companies. The rejection of animal fats by diet-conscious consumers led to a surplus of edible fats, and the resultant diversion into soapmaking and oleochemicals, displacing inedible fats and contributing to the market volatility of this commodity. The rendering industry is one