Veal is soft, pale meat obtained from young calves. Color is still the most important characteristic of veal, regarding the efforts undertaken to classify carcasses according to meat color as early as possible.
Meat from calves slaughtered within a few days of age is called ‘bob’ veal but most veal comes from calves raised to approximately 16 to 20 weeks of age. Most calves raised for veal are bull calves from the dairy industry.
Some calves will stay on a milk diet and others will be weaned off milk and switched to a grain diet once they are about eight weeks old. Calves that stay on a milk diet are called milk-fed veal. The other calves are called grain-fed veal and will eat corn mixed with vitamins and minerals.
Male dairy calves are used in the veal industry. Dairy cows must give birth to continue producing milk, but male dairy calves are of little or no value to the dairy farmer. A small percentage are raised to maturity and used for breeding.
What does it mean by veal?
