The popularity of the Atkins diet may be credited with boosting meat sales recently, but the greatest potential for increasing red meat consumption in the long term is to get meat shunners to incorporate small amounts into their diets, nutritionists told the World Meat Congress.
People need to realize that meat is an essential part of a healthy diet.
Welsh nutritionist Robert Pickard said meat marketers should focus on two groups of people who need to eat more meat but often don’t realize it. Red meat in particular needs to be presented as a healthy product.
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“The pregnant mother is a key target for all marketing messages because she is the one most likely to dramatically change her behaviour,” said Pickard, who is director general of the British Nutrition Foundation.
“She is the one most likely to stop drinking, give up smoking and change her diet. She is the one that needs the extra folate.”
Pregnant women need folate in their diet to provide enough of the nutrient for their baby to develop a healthy spine and nervous system, he said.
The other target group is seniors, whose bodies become less able to absorb vital nutrients as they age, and therefore need highly nutritious sources of micronutrients such as meat.
“The aging process presents for people in the red meat industry an unrivalled series of opportunities to fractionate the market in terms of high quality targeted goods,” said Pickard.
“Meat becomes terribly important, because once you’re over 60 it’s extremely difficult to absorb micronutrients even if you have them in the diet.”
Pickard said middle-aged women also need red meat because it provides many times the amount of various micronutrients as chicken per gram of meat.
Toronto nutritionist Susie Langley said women who are trying to become pregnant should eat red meat because it will increase their chances of conceiving.
“One of the first things they tell women at fertility clinics is to start eating red meat,” said Langley.
Pickard said eating red meat provides women with vitamin B2, while older people need it for vitamin B12.
Pickard’s and Langley’s advice that red meat should be a regular part of virtually everyone’s diet raised little controversy at the World Meat Congress, a gathering of meat producers, processors and regulators from around the world.
Pickard said the most recent official British recommended maximum amount of red meat per day is 140 grams per day. Langley said three-ounce portions of red meat are sufficient for most people.
Pickard said the greatest potential for new meat industry products will be to address the needs of people who in the next few years will be able to find out what diseases and conditions their DNA predisposes them to. Those people will want products that give them nutrients that will minimize their risks and maximize their health.
Pickard was asked his opinion of the Atkins diet. He said the diet works, but should not be followed in its most extreme form for more than a few months.
Getting energy from protein is hard on the body and can severely tax the internal organs if followed for too long. He said people can use the diet for one or two months to lose weight, then switch to a more balanced diet.
“It’s a matter of moderation,” said Pickard.
“Apply it for one or two months. Don’t apply it too extremely. Get a little bit of weight loss. Then go back to a bit of carbs.”
