TheMeatSite Newsletter - 14 March 2012

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Red Meat and Health Under the Spot Light Again

Concerns over the health effects of the consumption of red meat came to the fore again this week, hitting the headlines in newspapers in the US and in Europe.

The study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers reported that red meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of total cardiovascular and cancer mortality.

The results also showed that substituting other healthy protein sources, such as fish, poultry, nuts, and legumes, was associated with a lower risk of mortality.

However, the study brought a swift response from the American Meat Institute Foundation that says the research relies on "on notoriously unreliable self-reporting about what was eaten and obtuse methods to apply statistical analysis to the data".

And in the UK, Dr Carrie Ruxton from the Meat Advisory Panel (MAP) said: "This US study looked at associations between high intakes of red meat and risk of mortality, finding a positive association between the two. However, the study was observational, not controlled, and so cannot be used to determine cause and effect.

"The authors' conclusion that swapping a portion of red meat for poultry or fish each week may lower mortality risk was based only on a theoretical model. This conflicts with evidence from controlled trials."

In the US, nutritional labelling is now required on raw meat and poultry products.

The new rule means that consumers will have easy access to nutritional information for packages of ground or chopped meat and poultry. In all, 40 of the most popular whole, raw cuts of meat and poultry will have the labelling.

In Australia, Meat and Livestock Australia has called for the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) to provide greater consideration to evidence supporting red meat's role as a good source of iron and zinc in the Australian diet, particularly for vulnerable groups, in its submission to the draft Australian dietary guidelines.

"The guidelines play a key role in influencing consumption habits. It's therefore necessary to ensure red meat is appropriately represented as part of a healthy diet which supports nutrient adequacy and prevention of chronic disease," said Veronique Droulez, MLA Marketing Manager Nutrition.

In the UK, President of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), Carl Padgett, has said that consumers need to be better informed in order to allow them to make higher welfare choices.

“We want to see UK ministers in Europe pushing for proper implementation of the legislation and supporting our call for better consumer information that will allow people to make an informed choice in favour of higher welfare.”

Studies in to the organic market around the world have found that it is growing and going against the trend of generally falling sales, cuts and reduced expenditure.

The latest figures issued by the Soil Association in the UK and Organic Monitor show that in 2010 sales of organic products rose by eight per cent and by 228 per cent since 2000.

Worldwide sales were valued at $59 billion or around €44.5 billion in 2010 and were showing strong growth in all the major European markets as well as the US.

The total amount of land around the world devoted to organic farming is 37 million hectares.

Chris Harris

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 5 new features this week:

Canadian Meat and Poultry Primed for World Success?
As I view the state of the Canadian meat industry and its opportunities, it is, at once, a picture of restructuring; rebuilding and realignment; consolidation and evolution; and positioning in a world of growing worldwide demand for meat and poultry, writes Ronnie P. Cons VP of C&C Packing Inc.

Smart Packaging for Prime Products
Food packaging tends to get judged in terms of three criteria: the environment, marketing and functionality.

Trichinella
A review of the latest information on this foodborne parasite in Annual Review of Literature & Horizon Scanning Report: Summary of Papers Published in 2010 from the AHVLA Parasitology Group.

Machine Vision Technology to Find Defects
Georgia Institute of Technology researchers believe they're on the edge of a breakthrough, but they don't want to count their chickens before they're...processed.

Australia Commodity Reports
Beef pries are forecast to remain strong and slaughter numbers rise in 2012/13 following a slight dip this year, according to the Australian Agricultural Commodities report.