Industry promotes iron content of red meat

The red meat industry has used a draft report from a Food Standards Agency (FSA) nutrition advisory committee to promote retaining meat as an important source of iron in people’s diet.

The FSA’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) last week launched a 14-week consultation on its draft report on iron and health, which considered the health consequences of both iron deficiency and excess.
National dietary surveys have consistently shown that some people in the UK have iron intakes below those currently recommended and this has raised concerns that they may be at risk of iron deficiency and anaemia.
Previous studies, such as that produced by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF)​ had feared that sales of red meat might be hit.
But SACN stated in its report that while lower consumption of red and processed meat would probably reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, the evidence was “not conclusive”. However, it added that “as a precaution”, it might be advisable for intakes of red and processed meat not to increase above the current average (70g/day). It also advised high consumers of red and processed meat (100g/day or more) to reduce their intakes.
For the beef, cow and pig producing sectors, EBLEX and BPEX nutrition manager Maureen Strong responded: “As the evidence [in the WCRF research] is based on prospective observational studies, confounding factors such as smoking or obesity may have influenced the findings.”
SACN also recommended that health professionals needed to be alert to the risk of iron deficiency in certain groups and ensure that they were provided with appropriate nutritional advice. It also called for a healthy balanced diet, including consumption of a variety of foods containing iron.
SACN stressed that it was seeking comments on the scientific content of its report only and not on the risk management aspects of the recommendations, as these were outside its remit.