Protect The Harvest | Meat is crucial for human health, scientists warn

MEAT is crucial for human health, scientists have warned, as they called for an end to the “zealotry” pushing vegetarian and vegan diets.

Dozens of experts were asked to look into the science behind claims that eating meat causes disease and is harmful for the planet in a special issue of Animal Frontiers. They warn that it is difficult to replace the nutritional content of meat, and poorer communities with low meat intake often suffer from stunting, wasting and anaemia driven by a lack of vital nutrients and protein.

In recent years, there has been a push towards plant-based diets, with schemes such as Veganuary and Meat-free Mondays encouraging the public away from meat.

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factor Study, published in The Lancet in 2020, also suggested that a diet high in red meat was responsible for 896,000 deaths worldwide.

However, the researchers writing in Animal Frontiers argue that unprocessed meat delivers most vitamin B12 in human diets, and plays a major role in supplying retinol, omega-3 fatty acids and minerals such as iron and zinc, as well as important compounds for metabolism, such as taurine and creatine.

In one paper in the issue, experts found no good evidence to support red meat being dangerous below intakes of 75g per day.

It also argued the link between red meat and disease vanished when it was eaten as part of a healthy diet,