AMI Testifies on Meat, Poultry Importance in Diet

WASHINGTONResponding to the recent release of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Technical Report, the American Meat Institutes Director of Scientific Affairs Betsy Booren, Ph.D., on July 8 defended the important role meats and poultry play in nutrition during testimony before the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS).

Specifically, she testified that meat and poultry is allocated a relatively small part of the pyramid, yet the benefits from its share of the pyramid are significant. She also explained that in addition to protein, meat and poultry are good sources of iron, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin B12 and folic acid that are not typically found in plant foods or, if they are, they have low bioavailibity.

She also pointed to a discussion during the May 2010 meeting of Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that the meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts food group currently is consumed at or less than the current  recommended amount. This conclusion likely is a surprise to many who are under the mistaken impression that Americans over-eat meat and poultry products, she said.

As you develop the Dietary Guidelines, we urge you to word the recommendation in such a way that does not lead consumers to reduce their meat, poultry, and beans consumption. Language in the technical report recommending that consumers moderate their meat and poultry consumption may be perceived as advice to reduce their consumption, which could have unintended consequences by creating nutritional deficiencies, Booren said.

She also discussed certain sections of the report that reveal a strong bias against processed meats, largely due to concerns about sodium levels in some products. She said the industry is actively involved in efforts to reduce sodium in its products with more than 50 percent of the processed meat and poultry market undergoing recent sodium reduction reformulation.