Robust research needed to dispel myths about meat

The global consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts is expected to double by 2050, while the consumption of red meat could decrease by more than 50% during the same period.

This was according to Prof Hettie Schönfeldt, director of the African Universities Alliance for Food Security led by the University of Pretoria, who said this was due to the global drive to find alternative protein products, often referred to as “alternative meat” products.

She said the belief that meat was unhealthy had contributed to the reduction in meat consumption. Meat was, by definition, flesh and organs of animals and fowls, according to Schönfeldt.

She was responding to a statement by Chris Potgieter, head of Old Mutual Wealth Private Client Securities, who said that the new wave of alternative proteins available worldwide were made to taste like meat and were being marketed to meat-eaters, while the aim was to replace a proportion of “real meat” purchases.

Schönfeldt said that data from Statistics South Africa collected between 2008 and 2018 showed that the per capita daily consumption of red meat in the country was 35% lower than the 90g recommended by the South African Food Based Dietary Guidelines. South Africans increasingly suffered the consequences of inappropriate diets. Therefore, in appropriate amounts, animal-source food products were valuable sources of complete, high-quality, easily digestible protein and contained many essential micronutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin B12.

People all over the world were being bombarded with misinformation about red meat, which was mostly based on myths and untruths, she said. More and more consumers were nevertheless becoming aware of the health benefits of a balanced diet and good nutrition. This had resulted in a paradigm shift, focusing on the science of food, for example, the composition, function, interaction of the complete food matrix, she said.

Schönfeldt added that this called for robust scientific research to counteract all the ‘fake news’ pertaining to meat available in the public domain via various media platforms. – Annelie Coleman