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Nutrition and Health Factors in Meat Consumption^{1 ,2,}

University of Minnesota, St. Paul, 55108

Abstract

"Should meat be a part of the human diet?" is the first question to answer in discussing the nutritive content of meat. According to Yudkin (1975), the human has evolved as an omnivorous animal, with a preference for meat and fruits, which between them could satisfy his nutritional needs. Human dentition is of an all purpose variety, and the alimentary tract is comparatively unspecialized. Paterson (1975), using similar evidence, also argues that meat constitutes a logical component of the human diet. Tudge (1977), in a paper entitled "An end to meat mythology," contends that current meat-eating patterns fit into a general theory of omnivorousness. However, he states that if meat's social cachet is removed, then it ceases to enjoy a special place in the diet.

The second question should be: "How variable is the content of nutrients is different cuts of meat from within and between the different species of meat animals?" Crawford (1975) showed that the fat content of nondomesticated animals is much less than that of intensively fed beef or pork.

¹ Invitational paper presented at the Symposium on "The Future Meat Industry in Service to Mankind," held during the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, July 25, 1977.

² Scientific Journal Series Paper No. 10,201, Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station.