Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board

Authority

Industry technical body

Territories

GB

Primacy

primary

Commercial interest

none

Retrieved

2026-08-13

State

Read and citable

Original document

The specification that lets the lamb shoulder mapping be made from both sides for the first time. Removes the fores 'by cutting and sawing between the 6th and 7th rib bones', takes the shoulder off 'by cutting down each side of the spinous processes', separates by sheet boning, removes backstrap and fat deposits, leaves the neck fillet attached or not by agreement, and halves the result 'by cutting and sawing from the edge of the bladebone and parallel to the backline of the carcase'. States no fat ceiling and no weight band on the page.

Terminology, Technical, Culinary practice

• Explicitly not safety: A cutting specification is not a food-safety source.

• “Remove the fores from the lamb by cutting and sawing between the 6th and 7th rib bones.”

  AHDB specification Forequarter L003 removes the fores from the lamb by cutting and sawing between the 6th and 7th rib bones, removes the shoulder by cutting down each side of the spinous processes, separates the shoulders by sheet boning, removes backstrap and fat deposits, leaves the neck fillet attached or removed depending on requirements, and cuts the shoulder into two equal pieces from the edge of the bladebone parallel to the backline of the carcase.

  The rib boundary is the comparable figure. IMPS 207 squares the American shoulder by removing the foreshank and brisket through the cartilaginous juncture of the first rib and the sternum, and limits the neck to three cervical vertebrae; AHDB divides the carcase between ribs 6 and 7 instead.

  Where it applies:

  United Kingdom.

  The specification page states no fat ceiling and no weight band, where AHDB's leg and rump specifications both cap fat.