‘RED MEAT TAX WOULD BE GOING TOO FAR’

Recently researchers suggested that taxing red and processed meat by as much as 110% would save lives, Dr C is unconvinced

Scientists have claimed taxing red and processed meat would prevent 6,000 deaths a year and save billions for the NHS – but the figures are dodgy. Also, red meat is an important source of iron, zinc and B vitamins, without which we’d be sticking everyone on supplements.

BEWARE THE STATS

The researchers used computer modelling to estimate how many people die thanks to eating excess meat, what that costs, and what tax would balance it out. They said that globally around 2.4 million people die a year from too much processed and red meat, but the Lancet’s Global Burden of Disease Report put the figure at 140,000 – 17 times less!

DON’T OVEREAT

We should eat no more than 70g a day (1.5 sausages, 5tbsp mince, one burger patty), but the average red and processed meat intake among UK women is 56g. We should eat protein from plants, but they don’t contain everything we need. We don’t absorb iron well from plants, but we do from animal sources. The authors said people would either pay the tax or go veggie. I think lots of people would keep eating meat but go for the cheapest, least ethical, least nutritionally beneficial options as it’s all they could afford and be left with less money for veg. Also, it’s not for the government to instruct us to go veggie.

AVOID PROCESSED

Processed meat has been linked to health problems, but according to the World Health Organisation, British sausages and burgers are red meat, not processed. Processed meats are salted, cured, fermented or smoked, so would include smoked bacon, frankfurters, chorizo and salami. The researchers said these meats cause ten times more deaths than alcohol. That’s just not true, and you can’t isolate one food and say it causes an illness, because we don’t eat just one thing. Processed meat is classed as a grade 1 carcinogen, with smoking, contraceptive pills and being a painter. Red meat is a group 2a carcinogen, with creosote, very hot drinks, shift work and hairdressing. Being a carcinogen doesn’t mean it will definitely give you cancer. Stats seem scary but the “actual” risk is clearer: per thousand women, those who eat one serving of unprocessed meat a day, on average seven will die. For two servings per day, 8.5 will. The government should invest in improving animal welfare, not tax meat.