New survey shows meat consumption is on target as recommended by USDA
by Bryan Salvage, editor
Don't blame Americans' nutritional woes on excessive meat consumption. In fact, the Meat Group is the only food group in USDA's Food Guide Pyramid being consumed in appropriate amounts.
This has been uncovered by a new consumption survey and study entitled Eating in America Today II (EAT II). The National Live Stock and Meat Board commissioned MRCA Information Services, a Chicago-area independent research group, to conduct the study.
Since nutrition concerns affect food purchases, EAT II wanted to find out what consumers knew about nutrition.
People have been getting mixed signals for years on the role of red meat in a healthy diet. Some physicians and dietitians have recommended that consumers avoid eating red meat altogether to control fat and cholesterol in the diet.
Despite increasing nutrition education in recent years, many Americans remain overweight. Plus, the clamor for a healthier diet has led to further confusion about proper nutrition and the role of meat in a healthy diet.
"Media and health professionals have been telling us for years that we eat too much meat," says Jean Sowa, Meat Board executive vice president. "We didn't have a way to refute that quantitatively. We needed a good measure of what consumers actually ate when it came to meat."
EAT II indicates it may be time to take a fresh approach to healthful eating based on optimum food intake instead of avoiding fat, cholesterol and sodium by not eating certain foods like red meat.
About the study
Cindy Schweitzer, the Meat Board's assistant director of nutrition research, tells Meat Marketing & Technology: "We wanted to find out if meat consumption was in context with the entire diet. If the diets were unbalanced, what can we do to improve upon them? How far away from a balanced diet are we? What can we do to improve that?"
The study sample, taken between July 1, 1992, and June 30, 1993, includes a 2,000-household panel consisting of more than 4,700 people. Households were selected from across the nation and matched to census statistics to ensure that the sample represented the U.S. population.
Two types of data were collected from the survey: food consumption from all members of the household and attitude data from adults.
In regards to the meat industry, study results quantify how much beef, pork, lamb, veal and processed meats people ate a day based on actual dietary records. It also quantifies consumption of other foods.
Food and beverage consumption was tracked by the primary food preparer. In-home and away-from-home consumption was recorded for each household member for 14 days.
Nutrient intake data was later calculated using a nutrition intake database from the USDA's Nutrient Database for Food Intake Survey (and augmented with manufacturer's information, if necessary).
The study took America's food intake and matched it to USDA's Food Guide Pyramid-the accepted blueprint for healthy eating.
According to the pyramid, consumers (on a daily basis) should eat fats, oils and sweets sparingly; two to three servings from the milk, yogurt and cheese group; two to three servings from the meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts group; three to five servings from the vegetable group; two to four servings from the fruit group; and six to 11 servings from the bread, cereal, rice and pasta group.
How much meat was eaten?
Survey participants consumed an average of 6.4 ounces of meat-group products a day. The Food Guide Pyramid recommends two to three servings-5 to 7 ounces-from the meat group a day. Three ounces of cooked meat equals one serving, according to USDA.
Meat (beef, pork, lamb, veal, processed and variety meats) represents about half of all consumed foods within the meat group at 3.4 ounces a day. The average daily consumption within the group was: beef, 1.8 ounces; pork, 0.7 ounces; processed meats, 0.6 ounces; variety meats, 0.3 ounces; lamb, 0.02 ounces; and veal 0.02 ounces. The remaining portion consisted of eggs, dry beans, nuts, poultry, fish or seafood.
EAT II results prove perception is not reality when it comes to eating. Americans on average are not eating as healthfully as they think they are.
Adult men and women said their diets closely reflect the recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid. But the study found that all segments of the population over-consume products in the fats, oils and sweets group and under-consume foods in the vegetable, fruit, bread and milk groups.
While 99 percent of survey participants actually eat meat, the survey found a discrepancy in that only 95 percent of the population considered themselves meat eaters. About 5 percent classified themselves as meat avoiders.
Self-classified vegetarians accounted for less than 2 percent of the population. Most of the survey's meat avoiders and vegetarians, however, do eat meat. In fact, their actual meat consumption is only about 1 ounce a day less than meat eaters.
Some people trade off eating meat (limit meat intake) in hopes of developing a more nutritionally-balanced diet.
"Seventy percent of the adults said they trade off on meat to balance their diets from a nutrition standpoint," Schweitzer says. "Reducing the number of times they ate meat was the major way to trade off; the second most popular choice was eating smaller portion sizes."
Women meat traders ate fewer products from the fats, oils and sweets group, but they were getting the same amount of fat in their diet.
"These people say they were making a nutritional trade off, but in reality they're not," Schweitzer points out. "They're getting fat from the other food groups to make up the difference in overall fat intake."
Avoiding meat can deprive people of important nutrients and could result in nutrient deficiencies. Nutrients of particular concern from a dietary standpoint include iron and zinc.
"We know that iron and zinc deficiencies can be a problem for women at child-bearing age," Schweitzer cautions. "[Men and women] are marginally deficient in iron and zinc consumption. The RDA [recommended daily allowance] for men is 15 milligrams a day; for women it's 12.
"Yet, meat eaters are only getting 10 milligrams," Schweitzer continues. "And if you make changes in eating meat like some people did, you could be getting nearly 20 percent less zinc."
Zinc is involved in hundreds of enzyme processes in the body.
"The average American gets 67 grams a day of fat, which means 37 percent of their calories are from fat," Schweitzer adds. "We're higher than the recommended 30 percent. There is room for improvement in all food groups.
"We see in this 'tumbling pyramid' that fats, oils and sweets are being over-consumed," she says. "Those aren't just added fats; often times hidden fats [in products like deep-fried zucchini] make a significant contribution to the diet."
In terms of saturated fat consumption on average, survey participants consumed 24 grams a day, which equates to 13 percent of their calories from fat, Schweitzer notes.
"Today's health recommendation is that you should get no more than 10 percent of calories from saturated fats," she says. "Saturated fats come from all food groups."
People must also recognize where cholesterol comes from, Schweitzer says.
"Cholesterol comes from products of animal origin, and the body produces cholesterol as well," she says. "For years, it was thought that if you ate a lot of dietary cholesterol, it will increase your overall cholesterol level.
"Now, research is showing that cholesterol levels are an interaction between fat, saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, but to a much lesser extent dietary cholesterol, she adds."
The bottom line
Meat Board nutrition and education experts have already met with food industry policy officials in Washington on the survey's findings. Survey results will be passed along to many influential groups affecting food purchases including dietitians, school foodservice professionals and the mainstream media.
The survey was paid for by producer checkoff dollars, including state beef councils, Pork Board investments, voluntary lamb checkoff dollars throughthe meat Board program, and voluntary investments from packers anc processers.
The survey will continue, and results are planned to be published every two to three years.