Sheep meat

RMAC warns policymakers about flawed, anti-meat evidence

Sheep Central February 5, 2025

THE Red Meat Advisory Council is calling on policymakers to guard themselves against flawed evidence presented by anti-meat advocates when developing policy about recommended red meat intake.

RMAC chair John McKillop

This comes following a paper in the esteemed journal ‘Frontiers in Nutrition’ by Melissa Kavanaugh, Diana Rodgers, Nancy Rodriguez and Frédéric Leroy that criticises the persistent demonisation of red meat in favour of meat-free diets.

Dr Leroy is one of the initiators of the Dublin Declaration, a movement of more than 1000 scientists recognising the essential role of meat in diets – that has presented mountains of evidence demonstrating the value of meat in diets.

“While often framed around environment and animal welfare concerns, these anti-meat activists quite simply and ignorantly declare that red meat is bad for you and bad for the planet without considering the potential consequences,” RMAC independent chair John McKillop said.

“What this report argues is that the nutritional benefits of red meat need to be taken into account over the lazy, flimsy evidence we see against it.

“The report notes that the evidence against red meat should consider the potential consequences that result from the reduction or exclusion of red meat when dietary recommendation and polices are assessed,” he said.

“Red meat is a nutrient-dense food that provides highly bioavailable protein and several essential micronutrients often lacking in the diet, including iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.

“These nutrients can be limited or absent in many plant-source foods as well as in some other animal-source foods,” Mr McKillop said.

“As the report states, elderly people, children and young women are particularly vulnerable to any reductions in their red meat intake. This is problematic and potentially dangerous.

We already have 1 in 5 women in Australia who are iron deficient. We should be working to solve these problems, not make them worse,” he said.

“RMAC and the broader industry call on the National Health and Medical Research Council to take ‘Frontiers in Nutrition’ and other similar science into account when updating the national dietary guidelines.

“The dietary guidelines review process should not promote ideological agendas over Australians’ health,” Mr McKillop said.

  • View the full report ‘Considering the nutritional benefits and health implications of red meat in the era of meatless initiatives’ here.

 

Source: RMAC

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