veal

Meat of young calves. It is usually pale grayish white in colour, firm and fine-grained, with a velvety texture. Calves bred to yield veal are usually raised indoors under controlled temperatures and intensively fed on milk, high-protein calf meal, or both. Herbaceous foods are excluded, which results in an iron deficiency that produces the desirable light colour in the meat. In recent decades, animal-rights groups have denounced calf farming as cruel.