Flopstarter: a platform for bad ideas

Another consideration is the breed - different cattle breads are used for meat and dairy. Most beef cattle are cross-breads between dairy and beef stock. Dairy breeds are less muscular and consequently have lower meat yields.

There's nothing dangerous about it, just unpalatable to most. In the regular market most goes to pet food.

It's not about "risk," it's about quality.

This kind of beef is usually marked "utility grade," which is one step above dog food. It gets sent to those prisons that still serve meat, or to ultra-low-end restaurants like the one under the L tracks in Chicago that offers a full steak meal with garlic bread, a side, and a salad for eight bucks.

I'm not being critical. It's an awesome option for the working poor.* I've probably eaten the steak special at that place a dozen times. But you've got to know what you're getting into ahead of time.

*In days of yore, there were thousands of cheap, quick steak joints in Chicago. Office and factory workers who didn't bring their own lunches would always hit a low-end steakhouse. They were like the McDonald's of the 1890-1940's.