What Are Meat’s Benefits in Balanced Diet?

A new study from the European Food Safety Authority’s Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) shows that eating offal, meat, butter and dairy products are some of the best ways to achieve the recommended daily intake of vitamin A.

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin obtained from the diet either as preformed vitamin A (mainly retinol and retinyl esters) in foods of animal origin or as provitamin A carotenoids in plant-derived foods.

The study shows that foods rich in retinol, such as meat, offal, butter, dairy products eggs and retinol-enriched margarine, allow preformed vitamin A to be absorbed efficiently at a rate of between 70 and 90 per cent.

Vitamin A is also found in foods rich in β-carotene including vegetables and fruits, such as sweet potatoes, carrots, pumpkins, dark green leafy vegetables, sweet red peppers, mangoes and melons.

However the report says that the absorption rate of β-carotene “appears to be highly variable” ranging between five and 65 per cent, depending on food- and diet-related factors, genetic characteristics and the health status of the subject.

The study took data from 12 dietary surveys in nine EU countries, assessing the vitamin A intake using food consumption data from the EFSA Comprehensive Food Consumption Database and vitamin A composition data from the EFSA nutrient composition database.

In the US, research recently released by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) and Food Marketing Institute (FMI) shows that Americans value the nutrition and balance that meat and poultry products deliver in the diet.

The tenth annual Power of Meat report looks at meat and poultry trends through the shopper’s eyes and examined health and wellness trends for the first time.

It found that 79 per cent of shoppers put some or a lot of effort into making sure they make nutritious and balanced meat and poultry choices.

However, perceptions of nutrition are a bit different for meat compared to poultry products.

For meat products, including beef, pork and lamb, nutrition benefits are mostly associated with nutrients, such as iron and protein, followed by their role in a balanced diet and providing energy.

Consumers value poultry products, such as chicken or turkey, for the balance they provide in the diet, followed by the nutrients they offer and their contributions to maintaining a healthy weight.

“Whether it’s protein for developing, maintaining and repairing muscles, Vitamin B12 for normal metabolism and mental clarity or iron for its variety of roles in the body, meat and poultry are a key part of a balanced diet,” said Barry Carpenter, President and CEO of the North American Meat Institute.

“Consumers recognise this and as an industry we’re striving to offer a wide range of fresh and processed products to help Americans meet their nutrition goals.”