A major battle is brewing over how much red meat Americans should consume — and it has the beef industry seeing red.
The United States is preparing next year to update its Dietary Guidelines for Americans, an influential set of recommendations that inform nutrition labels, what food is served in schools and hospitals and the advice that healthcare professionals give patients.
Drafted recommendations are set to call for greater intake of plant-based foods while limiting consumption of beef and starchy vegetables like potatoes. The committee of scientists behind the recommendations also proposed moving “meats, poultry, eggs” to the last group listed in the protein-foods category while adding beans, peas and lentils as options.
The draft guidelines come as nutrition data shows most Americans across all stages of life are consuming more than the recommended amount of meat, which is driving their protein intake more than seafood, nuts, seeds and soy products.
“Despite who we are in the U.S., what age we are, what other characteristics we have, we’re all having a poor diet,” Heather Eicher-Miller, a member of the committee and a professor of nutrition science at Purdue University, said while presenting nutritional findings at a public hearing earlier this month.
Meat groups were quick to slam the proposal, with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association calling the recommendations “unhinged.” Red meat consumption has declined, the group says, while nutrient deficiencies and chronic diseases have increased.
“We would laugh at the suggestion that beans, peas, and lentils are going to replace lean red meat and fill all the nutrient gaps Americans are facing if it weren’t such a dangerous and deceptive idea,” Ethan Lane, NCBA vice president of government affairs, said in a statement.
Potential changes to the dietary guidelines are meant to convince consumers to eat more plant-based foods as the country struggles with high levels of diet-related diseases. The recommendations to eat more plant-based protein would increase the amount of calories Americans consume, scientists acknowledged, and the committee proposed to offset that growth by recommending less potatoes and starchy vegetables.
Groups representing potato growers expressed concerns similar to the meat industry, noting that the recommendations to eat less starchy vegetables comes as overall vegetable intake remains insufficient for most Americans.
“While the advisory committee acknowledges the overwhelming and clear evidence that Americans do not eat enough vegetables, the panel’s report reduces the starchy vegetable consumption recommendation,” Kam Quarles, CEO of the National Potato Council, said in a statement. “This conclusion is unsupported by nutritional science and will confuse consumers.”
The committee’s recommendations still need to be finalized and sent to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, at which point the public will have 60 days to comment. The departments will consider the recommendations and release the new dietary guidelines before the end of 2025.
It’s possible the recommendations from nutrition scientists could be rejected. In 2020, the departments nixed proposals calling for a reduction in consumption of alcohol and added sugars.