Beef labelled 'British' must come from animals born, reared and slaughtered within the UK. If you are not buying direct from a farmer you might find it helpful to look for a quality mark. These mean that all stages of the food chain have been independently checked to ensure that they meet the required standards.

We tend to equate 'eating quality' with tenderness and succulence. It is therefore important to use the correct cut of meat for a particular dish: for example, fillet for pan-frying, rib-eye for Sunday joints and chuck and blade for stewing.

To download a diagram of where different cuts of meat come from on the carcass and a guide to which cuts are the best ones to use for different regional dishes click here.

Meat is left to age in order to give the enzymes an opportunity to dissolve the connective tissues and this results in more tender meat.

It is important that we protect our great native livestock industry buy buying the real thing, not an imported substitute. Note that beef sold by breed name, for example ‘Aberdeen Angus steaks’, can be a product of another country.

If you are a consumer and would like to find out where you can buy British beef...

To find British beef in supermarkets, please click on the Want to buy British logo on the top right hand corner of this page.

If you are a retailer and would like to find out about stocking British beef in your shop

If you are a caterer and would like to find out about sourcing British beef for your menu...

For recipes that feature British beef click here.