Wanda Todd, age 14, of Meridian, Miss., for her question:

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VEAL AND BEEF?

Veal is the flesh of cattle that are too young and small to be sold as beef. These cattle are divided into vealers and calves.

Vealers are animals under 12 weeks old that are fed with milk. Although calves eat grass or grain like older cattle, calf flesh is not as tasty as beef.

Veal is similar to beef. Veal contains more water than beef, but it has less fat. Veal is more tender than beef, but the older age of beef makes it tastier than veal.

People in the United States and Canada eat much more beef than veal. Each American, the record shows, eats an average of 115 pounds of beef each year compared with only about three pounds of veal.

Vealers and calves sell by weight and according to grades set up by the federal government. The U.S. grades are prime, choice, good, standard, utility and cull. The best grades of veal are plump and range in color from light pink to light gray.

Calf flesh is darker and has more definite grain than vealer flesh.