The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is speaking out against new recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Rusty Halvorson has more details.
The committee suggests replacing beef with plant-based proteins like beans, peas, and lentils.
Registered Dietitian and NCBA Executive Director of Nutrition Science Dr. Shalene McNeill calls the suggestion “impractical” and “out of touch.”
“We’re not going to get the same quality of protein, we’re not going to get the same available iron and nutrients and we simply do not have the wiggle room to cut back on beef in the diet for a healthy diet in America today.”
McNeill says cutting red meat could leave many Americans without essential nutrients.
“What we’ve seen is the past four decades, we have had dietary guidelines for Americans that gently nudge Americans to eat less red meat, and they’ve done that. And all we’ve seen is rising rates of obesity, rising rates of chronic disease, and more recent research is just continuing to come out to show that, as we’ve declined our red meat intake, our iron deficiency rates are on the rise, other nutrients associated with beef are also on the rise. So we’re headed in the wrong direction with regards to our nutritional adequacy, in the United States, and beef can help offset and close those nutrient gaps that we’re facing.”
The Committee is expected to release their official report by December 9th, with a public comment period to follow.
“We’ll have that opportunity, and then the USDA and Health and Human Services will take those recommendations, and eventually make them into what we know as the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the ‘policy report’ we often say. So that’ll happen over the next year, once that report is released, and those agencies start developing the actual Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”
The NCBA encourages cattle producers to text the word “beef” to 52886 to receive a link for sending a message directly to members of Congress regarding the dietary guidelines.
McNeill shared her thoughts on the NCBA Beltway Beef Podcast.