In the Netherlands veal carcasses are classified according to colour with the aid of a colour scale. The colour scale, existing of five coloured chips, and the results of its application in the classification system were evaluated both theoretically and practically. The result was that theoretically 75 % of the samples were assigned to the same and 25 % to a different colour class when assessed by two people. In practice the standardized colour classification of veal in the Netherlands is carried out 45 min post mortem by an independent organization, the ‘Centraal Bureau voor Slachtveediensten’ (CBS). The correlation coefficient of the results of parallel classifications of 12, 659 carcasses between CBS employees and inspectors was 0.88. The CBS employees assigned 80.1 % of the carcasses to the same colour class, 10.5 % to a colour that was one class lighter and 9.4 % to a colour that was one class darker than the inspectors did.