Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food.[ ξ1 ] Humans are omnivorous,[ ξ2 ][ ξ3 ]
Meat is mainly composed of water and protein, and is usually eaten together with other food. It is edible raw, but is normally eaten after it has been cooked and seasoned or processed in a variety of ways. Unprocessed meat will spoil within hours or days. Spoilage is caused by the practically unavoidable infection and subsequent decomposition of meat by bacteria and fungi, which are borne by the animal itself, by the people handling the meat, and by their implements.
Meat consumption varies worldwide, depending on cultural or religious preferences, as well as economic conditions. Vegetarians choose not to eat meat because of ethical, economic, environmental, religious or health concerns that are associated with meat production and consumption.
Most often, meat refers to skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as offal.
Etymology
The word
meat comes from the
Old English word
mete, which referred to food in general. The term is related to
mad in
Danish,
mat in
Swedish and
Norwegian, and
matur in
Icelandic and
Faroese, which also mean 'food'. The word
mete also exists in
Old Frisian (and to a lesser extent, modern
West Frisian) to denote important food, differentiating it from
swiets (sweets) and
dierfied (animal feed).
History
Paleontological evidence suggests that meat constituted a substantial proportion of the diet of even the earliest humans.
Early
depended on the organized hunting of large animals such as
bison and
deer.
The domestication of animals, of which we have evidence dating back to the end of the last glacial period (c. 10,000 BC),
-
Sheep, originating from western Asia, were domesticated with the help of dogs prior to the establishment of settled agriculture, likely as early as the 8th millennium BC.
-
Cattle were domesticated in Mesopotamia after settled agriculture was established about 5000 BC,
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, which are descended from , are known to have existed about 2500 BC in modern-day Hungary and in Troy; earlier pottery from Jericho and Egypt depicts wild pigs.
Other animals are or have been raised or hunted for their flesh. The type of meat consumed varies much between different cultures, changes over time, depending on factors such as tradition and the availability of the animals. The amount and kind of meat consumed also varies by income, both between countries and within a given country.
[Mark Gehlhar and William Coyle, "Global Food Consumption and Impacts on Trade Patterns", Chapter 1 in Changing Structure of Global Food Consumption and Trade, edited by Anita Regmi, May 2001. USDA Economic Research Service.]
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Horse are commonly eaten in countries such as France
[Chrisafis, Angelique "France's horsemeat lovers fear US ban The Guardian, June 15th 2007, London.] Italy, Germany and Japan.[Alan Davidson (2006). Tom Jaine, Jane Davidson and Helen Saberi. ed. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280681-5, pp. 387-388] Horses and other large such as reindeer were hunted during the Late Paleolithic in western Europe.[Turner, E. 2005. "Results of a recent analysis of horse remains dating to the Magdalenian period at Solutre, France," pp 70-89. In Mashkour, M (ed.). Equids in Time and Space. Oxford: Oxbow]
-
Dog are consumed in China,
[Rupert Wingfield-Hayes (29 June 2002). "China's taste for the exotic". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/2074073.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-15.] South Korea["Vietnam's dog meat tradition". BBC News. 31 December 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1735647.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-15."Vietnam's dog meat tradition". BBC News. 31 December 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1735647.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-15.] Dogs are also occasionally eaten in the Arctic regions.[Francis H. Fay (June 1960) "Carnivorous walrus and some arctic zoonoses". Arctic 13, no.2: 111-122. http://arctic.synergiesprairies.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/3691/3666] Historically, dog meat has been consumed in various part of the world, such as Hawaii,[Schwabe, Calvin W. (1979). Unmentionable cuisine. University of Virginia Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8139-1162-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=SiBntk9jGmoC.] Japan,[Hanley, Susan B. (1999). Everyday things in premodern Japan: the hidden legacy of material culture. University of California Press. p. 66. ISBN 0-520-21812-4. http://books.google.com/?id=f7E5a9CIploC&pg=PA66&dq=dog#v=onepage&q=dog.] Switzerland[Schwabe, Calvin W. (1979). Unmentionable cuisine. University of Virginia Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-8139-1162-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=SiBntk9jGmoC.] and Mexico.[Alan Davidson (2006). Tom Jaine, Jane Davidson and Helen Saberi. ed. The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280681-5, pp. 491]
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Cat are consumed in Southern China and Peru.
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are raised for their flesh in the Andes.
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and are hunted, partly for their flesh, in Japan, Alaska, Siberia, Canada, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and by two small communities in Indonesia.
Modern agriculture employs a number of techniques, such as progeny testing, to make animals evolve rapidly to acquire the qualities desired by meat producers.
Even though it is a very old industry, meat production continues to be shaped strongly by the evolving demands of customers. The trend towards selling meat in pre-packaged cuts has increased the demand for larger breeds of cattle, which are better suited to producing such cuts.[Lawrie, 11, citing Ollson, V., Andersson, I., Ranson, K., Lundström, K. (2003) Meat Sci. 64, 287 and noting also that organically reared pigs "compare unfavourably" with conventionally reared ones "in some respects."] meets an increasing demand for organic meat.
Growth and development of meat animals
Agricultural science has identified several factors bearing on the growth and development of meat in animals.
Genetics
|
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| Reproductive efficiency | 2–10% |
| Meat quality | 15–30% |
| Growth | 20–40% |
| Muscle/fat ratio | 40–60% |
Several economically important traits in meat animals are heritable to some degree (see the table to the right) and can thus be selected for by breeding. In cattle, certain growth features are controlled by
recessive genes which have not so far been controlled, complicating breeding.
One such trait is
dwarfism; another is the doppelender or "
double muscling" condition, which causes
muscle hypertrophy and thereby increases the animal's commercial value.
continues to reveal the genetic mechanisms that control numerous aspects of the
endocrine system and, through it, meat growth and quality.
Genetic engineering techniques can shorten breeding programmes significantly because they allow for the identification and isolation of coding for desired traits, and for the reincorporation of these genes into the animal genome.
Experimental reproductive cloning of commercially important meat animals such as sheep, pig or cattle has been successful. The multiple asexual reproduction of animals bearing desirable traits can thus be anticipated,
Environment
Heat regulation in livestock is of great economic significance, because mammals attempt to maintain a constant optimal body temperature. Low temperatures tend to prolong animal development and high temperatures tend to retard it.
Depending on their size, body shape and insulation through tissue and fur, some animals have a relatively narrow zone of temperature tolerance and others (e.g. cattle) a broad one.
Static
, for reasons still unknown, also retard animal development.
Nutrition
The quality and quantity of usable meat depends on the animal's
plane of nutrition, i.e., whether it is over- or underfed. Scientists disagree, however, about how exactly the plane of nutrition influences carcase composition.
The composition of the diet, especially the amount of protein provided, is also an important factor regulating animal growth.
In plant feed, environmental factors influence the availability of crucial or , a lack or excess of which can cause a great many ailments.
Human intervention
Meat producers may seek to improve the
fertility of female animals through the administration of
gonadotrophic or
ovulation-inducing
.
In pig production,
sow infertility is a common problem, possibly due to excessive fatness.
No methods currently exist to augment the fertility of male animals.
is now routinely used to produce animals of the best possible genetic quality, and the efficiency of this method is improved through the administration of hormones that synchronize the ovulation cycles within groups of females.
, particularly anabolic agents such as , are used in some countries to accelerate muscle growth in animals.
may be administered to animals to counteract stress factors and increase weight gain.
Biochemical composition
Numerous aspects of the biochemical composition of meat vary in complex ways depending on the species, breed, sex, age, plane of nutrition, training and exercise of the animal, as well as on the anatomical location of the musculature involved.
Even between animals of the same litter and sex there are considerable differences in such parameters as the percentage of intramuscular fat.
Main constituents
Adult mammalian
muscle flesh consists of roughly 75 percent water, 19 percent protein, 2.5 percent intramuscular fat, 1.2 percent
and 2.3 percent other soluble non-protein substances. These include
nitrogenous compounds, such as
, and inorganic substances such as minerals.
Muscle proteins are either soluble in water ( proteins, about 11.5 percent of total muscle mass) or in concentrated salt solutions (myofibrillar proteins, about 5.5 percent of mass).
Fat in meat can be either adipose tissue, used by the animal to store energy and consisting of "true fats" ( of glycerol with ),
Red and white meat
Meat can be broadly classified as "red" or "white" depending on the concentration of
myoglobin in muscle fibre. When myoglobin is exposed to
oxygen, reddish oxymyoglobin develops, making myoglobin-rich meat appear red. The redness of meat depends on species, animal age, and fibre type:
Red meat contains more narrow muscle fibres that tend to operate over long periods without rest,
while
white meat contains more broad fibres that tend to work in short fast bursts.
Generally, the meat of adult mammals such as cows, sheep, goats, and horses is considered red, while chicken and turkey breast meat is considered white.
Nutritional information
Typical nutritional content of
110 grams (4 oz or .25 lb) of meat |
|
|
|
|
|
|
All
muscle tissue is very high in protein, containing all of the
, and in most cases is a good source of
zinc,
vitamin B12,
selenium,
phosphorus,
niacin,
vitamin B6,
choline,
riboflavin and
iron.
[http://www.beef.org/uDocs/whatyoumisswithoutmeat638.pdf]
Several forms of meat are high in
vitamin K2,
which is only otherwise known to be found in fermented foods, with
natto having the highest concentration.
Muscle tissue is very low in carbohydrates and does not contain dietary fiber.
The fat content of meat can vary widely depending on the
species and
breed of animal, the way in which the animal was raised, including what it was fed, the
anatomical part of the body, and the methods of butchering and cooking. Wild animals such as
deer are typically leaner than farm animals, leading those concerned about fat content to choose
game such as
venison. Decades of breeding meat animals for fatness is being reversed by consumer demand for meat with less fat.
The table in this section compares the nutritional content of several types of meat. While each kind of meat has about the same content of protein and carbohydrates, there is a very wide range of fat content. It is the additional fat that contributes most to the calorie content of meat, and to concerns about dietary health.
Production
Meat is produced by killing an animal and cutting flesh out of it. These procedures are called
slaughter and
butchery, respectively. There is ongoing research into producing
meat in vitro, that is, outside of animals.
Attesting to the long history of meat consumption in human civilizations, ritual slaughter has become part of the practice of several religions. These rituals, as well as other pre-industrial meat production methods such as these used by indigenous peoples, are not detailed here. This section will instead provide an overview of contemporary industrialized meat production in dedicated from cattle, sheep and pigs.
Transport
Upon reaching a predetermined age or weight, livestock are usually transported
en masse to the slaughterhouse. Depending on its length and circumstances, this may exert stress and injuries on the animals, and some may die
en route.
Unnecessary stress in transport may adversely affect the quality of the meat.
In particular, the muscles of stressed animals are low in water and
glycogen, and their
pH fails to attain acidic values, all of which results in poor meat quality.
Consequently, and also due to campaigning by
animal welfare groups, laws and industry practices in several countries tend to become more restrictive with respect to the duration and other circumstances of livestock transports.
Slaughter
Animals are usually slaughtered by being first
stunned and then
exsanguinated (bled out). Death results from the one or the other procedure, depending on the methods employed. Stunning can be effected through
the animals with
carbon dioxide, shooting them with a
gun or a
captive bolt pistol, or shocking them with electric current.
In most forms of
ritual slaughter, stunning is not allowed.
Draining as much blood as possible from the carcase is necessary because blood causes the meat to have an unappealing appearance and is a breeding ground for microorganisms.
Dressing and cutting
After exsanguination, the carcass is dressed; that is, the head, feet, hide (except hogs and some veal), excess fat,
viscera and
offal are removed, leaving only bones and edible muscle.
Cattle and pig carcases, but not those
of sheep, are then split in half along the mid ventral axis, and the carcase is cut into wholesale pieces.
The dressing and cutting sequence, long a province of manual labor, is progressively being fully automated.
Conditioning
Under hygienic conditions and without other treatment, meat can be stored at above its freezing point (–1.5 °C) for about six weeks without spoilage, during which time it undergoes an aging process that increases its tenderness and flavor.
During the first day after death, glycolysis continues until the accumulation of lactic acid causes the pH to reach about 5.5. The remaining glycogen, about 18 g per kg, is believed to increase the water-holding capacity and tenderness of the flesh when cooked.
Over time, the muscle proteins denature in varying degree, with the exception of the collagen and elastin of connective tissue,
Additives
When meat is industrially processed in preparation of consumption, it may be enriched with
additives to protect or modify its flavor or color, to improve its tenderness, juiciness or cohesiveness, or to aid with its
preservation. Meat additives include the following:
[ ξ4 ]
-
Salt is the most frequently used additive in meat processing. It imparts flavor but also inhibits microbial growth, extends the product's shelf life and helps emulsifying finely processed products, such as sausages. Ready-to-eat meat products normally contain about 1.5 to 2.5 percent salt.
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Nitrite is used in curing meat to stabilize the meat's color and flavor, and inhibits the growth of spore-forming microorganisms such as C. botulinum. The use of nitrite's precursor nitrate is now limited to a few products such as dry sausage, prosciutto or parma ham.
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used in meat processing are normally alkaline such as sodium tripolyphosphate. They are used to increase the water-binding and emulsifying ability of meat proteins, but also limit lipid oxidation and flavor loss, and reduce microbial growth.
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Erythorbate or its equivalent ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is used to stabilize the color of cured meat.
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Sweeteners such as sugar or corn syrup impart a sweet flavor, bind water and assist surface browning during cooking in the Maillard reaction.
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impart or modify flavor. They include or extracted from them, , vegetables and .
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such as monosodium glutamate impart or strengthen a particular flavor.
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Tenderizer break down to make the meat more palatable for consumption. They include , acids, salt and phosphate.
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Dedicated include lactic, citric and acetic acid, sodium diacetate, acidified sodium chloride or calcium sulfate, cetylpyridinium chloride, activated lactoferrin, sodium or potassium lactate, or such as nisin.
-
include a wide range of chemicals that limit lipid oxidation, which creates an undesirable "off flavor", in precooked meat products.
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, most often lactic or citric acid, can impart a tangy or tart flavor note, extend shelf-life, tenderize fresh meat or help with protein denaturation and moisture release in dried meat. They substitute for the process of natural fermentation that acidifies some meat products such as hard salami or prosciutto.
Spoilage and preservation
The spoilage of meat occurs, if untreated, in a matter of hours or days and results in the meat becoming unappetizing, poisonous or infectious. Spoilage is caused by the practically unavoidable infection and subsequent
decomposition of meat by
bacteria and
fungi, which are borne by the animal itself, by the people handling the meat, and by their implements. Meat can be kept edible for a much longer time – though not indefinitely – if proper
hygiene is observed during production and processing, and if appropriate
food safety,
food preservation and
food storage procedures are applied. Without the application of
and stabilizers, the fats in meat may also begin to rapidly decompose after cooking or processing, leading to an objectionable taste known as
warmed over flavor.
Methods of preparation
Fresh meat can be cooked for immediate consumption, or be
processed, that is, treated for longer-term
preservation and later consumption, possibly after further preparation. A common additive to processed meats, both for preservation and because it prevents discoloring, is
sodium nitrite, which, however, is also a source of health concerns, because it may form
carcinogenic when heated.
[ ξ5 ]
Meat is prepared in many ways, as , in , fondue, or as dried meat like beef jerky. It may be ground then formed into patties (as or croquettes), loaves, or , or used in loose form (as in "sloppy joe" or Bolognese sauce).
Some meat is cured by smoking, which is the process of flavoring, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to the smoke from burning or smoldering plant materials, most often wood. In Europe, alder is the traditional smoking wood, but oak is more often used now, and beech to a lesser extent. In North America, hickory, mesquite, oak, pecan, alder, maple, and fruit-tree woods are commonly used for smoking. Meat can also be cured by pickling, preserving in salt or brine (see salted meat and other curing methods).
Other kinds of meat are marinated and , or simply boiled, roasted, or fried.
Meat is generally eaten cooked, but there are many traditional recipes that call for raw beef, veal or fish (tartare). Steak tartare is a meat dish made from finely chopped or minced raw beef or horse meat.[ ξ6 ][Raymond Sokolov, The Cook's Canon, 2003, ISBN 0-06-008390-5, p. 183 at Google Books] Meat is often spiced or seasoned, particularly with meat products such as sausages. Meat dishes are usually described by their source (animal and part of body) and method of preparation (e.g., a beef rib).
Meat is a typical base for making . Popular varieties of sandwich meat include ham, pork, salami and other sausages, and beef, such as steak, roast beef, corned beef, pepperoni, and pastrami. Meat can also be molded or pressed (common for products that include offal, such as haggis and scrapple) and canned.
Issues
Meat is part of the human diet in most cultures. Many people, however, choose not to eat meat (this is referred to as
vegetarianism) or any food made from animals (
veganism). The reasons for not eating all or some meat may include ethical objections to killing animals for food, health concerns, environmental concerns or religious
dietary laws.
Ethics of eating meat
Ethical issues regarding the consumption of meat can include objections to the act of killing animals or to the
agricultural practices used in meat production. Reasons for objecting to killing animals for consumption may include
animal rights,
environmental ethics, or an aversion to inflicting
pain or harm on other
sentient creatures. Some people, while not vegetarians, refuse to eat the flesh of certain animals, such as cats, dogs, horses, or rabbits, due to cultural or religious
. In some cases, specific meats (especially from pigs and cows) are forbidden within religious traditions.
Some people eat only the flesh of animals which they believe have not been mistreated, and abstain from the meat of animals reared in factory farms or from particular products such as foie gras and veal. Some people also abstain from milk and its derivatives because the production of veal is a byproduct of the dairy industry. The ethical issues with factory farming relate to the high concentration of animals, animal waste, and the potential for dead animals in a small space. Critics argue that some techniques used in intensive agriculture can be cruel to animals. Foie gras is a food product made of the liver of ducks or geese that has been specially fattened by force feeding them corn. Veal is criticised because the veal calves may be highly restricted in movement; have unsuitable flooring; spend their entire lives indoors; experience prolonged sensory, social, and exploratory deprivation; and are more susceptible to high amounts of stress and disease.[http://www.hsus.org/farm/resources/research/welfare/welfare_veal_calves.html]
Religious traditions
The religion of
Jainism has always opposed eating meat, and there are also
schools of Buddhism, and
Hinduism that condemn the eating of meat.
Jewish dietary rules (
Kashrut) allow certain (
kosher) meat and forbid other (
treif). Among the numerous laws that form part of
kashrut are the prohibitions on the consumption of
unclean animals (such as
pork,
shellfish (both
Mollusca and
Crustacea) and most
) and mixtures of meat and milk. Similar rules apply in
Islamic dietary laws. According to the
Quran, the only foods explicitly forbidden are meat from animals that die of themselves, blood, the meat of swine (porcine animals, pigs), and animals dedicated to other than Allah (either undedicated or dedicated to
idols).In
Sikhism only
Kutha meat is forbidden and the proscribed method of killing is
Jhatka, however there are sects that oppose eating meat.
[ ξ7 ]
Health
A study of 400,000 subjects conducted by the
European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and published in 2013 showed "a moderate positive association between processed meat consumption and mortality, in particular due to cardiovascular diseases, but also to cancer."
A 1999 metastudy combined data from five studies from western countries. The metastudy reported , where lower numbers indicated fewer deaths, for fish eaters to be 0.82, vegetarians to be 0.84, occasional meat eaters to be 0.84. Regular meat eaters and vegans shared the highest mortality ratio of 1.00. The study reported the numbers of deaths in each category, and expected error ranges for each ratio, and adjustments made to the data. However, the "lower mortality was due largely to the relatively low prevalence of smoking in these vegetarian cohorts".
In response to changing prices as well as health concerns about saturated fat and cholesterol, consumers have altered their consumption of various meats. A USDA report points out that consumption of beef in the United States between 1970–1974 and 1990–1994 dropped by 21%, while consumption of chicken increased by 90%.[http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/foodreview/jan1996/frjan96f.pdf] During the same period of time, the price of chicken dropped by 14% relative to the price of beef. In 1995 and 1996, beef consumption increased due to higher supplies and lower prices.
Cancer
In recent years, health concerns have been raised about the consumption of meat increasing the risk of cancer.
In particular, red meat and processed meat were found to be associated with higher risk of cancers of the
lung, esophagus, liver, and
colon, among others, although also a reduced risk for some minor type of cancers.
Another study found an increase risk of pancreatic cancer for red meat and pork.
That study also suggests that fat and saturated fat are not likely contributors to pancreatic cancer. Animal fat, particularly from ruminants, tends to have a higher percentage of
saturated fat vs. monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat when compared to vegetable fats, with the exception of some tropical plant fats;
consumption of which has been correlated with various health problems. The saturated fat found in meat has been associated with significantly raised risks of
colon cancer,
although evidence suggests that risks of prostate cancer are unrelated to animal fat consumption.
However, many research papers do not support significant links between meat consumption and various cancers. Key et al. found that "There were no significant differences between vegetarians and nonvegetarians in mortality from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer or all other causes combined."[Key, T. J. , G. E. Fraser, M. Thorogood, P. N. Appleby, V. Beral, G. Reeves, M. L. Burr, J. Chang-Claude, R. Frentzel-Beyme, J. W. Kuzma, J. Mann and K. McPherson. 1999. Mortality in vegetarians and nonvegetarians: detailed findings from a collaborative analysis of 5 prospective studies. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 70 (suppl.): 516S-524S] Truswell reviewed numerous studies, concluding that the relationship of colorectal cancer with meat consumption appeared weaker than the "probable" status it had been given by the World Cancer Research Foundation in 1997.[Truswell, A. S. 2002. Meat consumption and cancer of the large bowel. E. J. Clin. Nutr. 56: S19-S24.] A study by Chao et al. (2005) found an apparent association of colorectal cancer with red meat consumption after adjustment for age and energy intake. However, after further adjustment for body mass index, cigarette smoking and other covariates, no association with red meat consumption was found.[Chao, A., M. J. Thun, C. J. Connell, M. L. McCullough, E. J. Jacobs, W. D. Flanders, C. Rodriguez, R. Sinha and E. E. Calle. 2005. Meat consumption and risk of colorectal cancer. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 293: 172-182] Alexander conducted a meta-analysis which found no association of colorectal cancer with consumption of animal fat or protein.[Alexander, D. D., C. A. Cushing, K. A. Lowe, B. Sceurman and M. A. Roberts. 2009. Meta-analysis of animal fat or animal protein intake and colorectal cancer. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89: 1402-1409] Based on European data (EPIC-Oxford study), Key et al. found that incidence of colorectal cancer was somewhat lower among meat eaters than among vegetarians.[Key, T. J., P. N. Appleby, E. A. Spencer, R. C. Travis, A. W. Roddam and N. E. Allen. 2009. Cancer incidence in vegetarians: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Oxford). Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 89 (suppl.): 1620S-1626S] A study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition found that association between esophageal cancer risk and total and processed meat intake was not statistically significant.[Gonzalez, C. A. et al. 2006. Meat Intake and Risk of Stomach and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Within the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). J. National Cancer Inst. 98: 345-354] The dissimilar findings indicate that caution is needed in considering claims of dietary links to cancer occurrence.
Heart disease
The correlation of meat consumption to increased risk of
heart disease is controversial. Some studies fail to find a link between red meat consumption and heart disease
[http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.924977v1] (although the same study found statistically significant correlation between the consumption of processed meat and cancer), while another study, a survey, conducted in 1960, of 25,153 California Seventh-Day Adventists, found that the risk of heart disease is three times greater for 45-64 year old men who eat meat daily, versus those who did not eat meat.
A major Harvard University study
[[5]] in 2010 involving over one million people who ate meat found that only processed meat had an adverse risk in relation to coronary heart disease. The study suggests that eating 50g (less than 2oz) of processed meat per day increases risk of coronary heart disease by 42%, and diabetes by 19%. Equivalent levels of fat, including saturated fats, in unprocessed meat (even when eating twice as much per day) did not show any deleterious effects, leading the researchers to suggest that "differences in salt and preservatives, rather than fats, might explain the higher risk of heart disease and diabetes seen with processed meats, but not with unprocessed red meats."
Bacterial contamination
A 2011 study by the
Translational Genomics Research Institute showed that nearly half (47%) of the meat and
poultry in U.S. grocery stores were contaminated with
S. aureus, with more than half (52%) of those bacteria resistant to antibiotics.
[ US Meat and Poultry Is Widely Contaminated With Drug-Resistant Staph Bacteria]
Cooking
Meat can transmit certain
, but complete cooking and avoiding recontamination reduces this possibility.
Several studies published since 1990 indicate that cooking muscle meat creates (HCAs), which are thought to increase cancer risk in humans. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute published results of a study which found that human subjects who ate beef rare or medium-rare had less than one third the risk of stomach cancer than those who ate beef medium-well or well-done.
, present in processed and cooked foods, have been noted as being carcinogenic, being linked to colon cancer. Also, toxic compounds called PAHs, or , present in processed, smoked and cooked foods, are known to be carcinogenic.
Environmental impact
Various environmental effects are associated with meat production. Among these are greenhouse gas emissions, fossil energy use, water use, water quality changes, and effects on grazed ecosystems. The occurrence, nature and significance of these effects varies among livestock production systems.
[Steinfeld, H. et al. 2006, Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options. Livestock, Environment and Development, FAO.] Grazing of livestock can be beneficial for some wildlife species, but not for others.
[Holechek, J. L. et al. 1982. Manipulation of grazing to improve or maintain wildlife habitat. Wildlife Soc. Bull. 10:204-210.][Strassman, B. I. 1987. Effects of cattle grazing and haying on wildlife conservation at National Wildlife Refuges in the United States. Environmental Mgt. 11: 35-44] Targeted grazing of livestock is used as a food-producing alternative to herbicide use in some vegetation management.
[Launchbaugh, K. (ed.) 2006. Targeted Grazing: a natural approach to vegetation management and landscape enhancement. American Sheep Industry. 199 pp.] Meat-producing livestock can provide environmental benefits through waste reduction, e.g. conversion of human-inedible residues of food crops.
[Anderson, D. C. 1978. Use of cereal residues in beef cattle production systems. J. Anim. Sci. 46: 849-861.][Elferink, E. V., S. Nonhebel and H. C. Moll. 2008. Feeding livestock food residue and the consequences for the environmental impact of meat. J. Cleaner Prod. 16: 1227-1233.] Manure from meat-producing livestock is used as fertilizer; it may be composted before application to food crops. Substitution of animal manures for synthetic fertilizers in crop production can be environmentally significant, as between 43 and 88 MJ of fossil fuel energy are used per kg of nitrogen in manufacture of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers.
[Shapouri, H. et al. 2002. The energy balance of corn ethanol: an update. USDA Agricultural Economic Report 814.]
Imitation meat
Various forms of
imitation meat have been created for people who wish not to eat meat but still want to taste its flavor and texture. Meat imitates are typically some form of processed
soybean (
tofu,
tempeh), but they can also be based on
wheat gluten or even fungus (
quorn).
Misidentification
With the rise of complex
supply chains, including
, in developed economies, the distance between the farmer or fisherman and customer has grown, increasing the possibility for intentional and unintentional misidentification of meat at various points in the supply chain.
[
]
In 2013, reports emerged across Europe that products labelled as containing beef actually contained horse meat.[ EU-wide Meat Testing for Horsemeat SGS Food Safety Bulletin, Retrieved 04/16/2013][ Horse Meat Scandal Is ‘Food Fraud’ New York Times, Retrieved 04/17/2013] In February 2013 a study was published showing that about one-third of raw fish are misidentified across the United States.[Juliet Eilperin and Tim Carman for the Washington Post. February 21, 2013. One-third of seafood mislabeled, study finds]
See also
External links
References
