Red meat - to eat or not to eat?

[alan refail]

An interesting variance of opinion on the latest "scare".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12571576

Eat less Scientific Advisory Committee

It's good for you Soil Association

[Primrose]

I think a lot of people are probably eating less red meat now these days because their purses are being pinched, rather than because they're worrying about it being a dietary risk. You'd have to be pretty well heeled to eat steak every day in the present economic climate.

In recent years we seem to have cut down our meat intake because we're eating more vegetables and our cooking habits now encompass far more foreign recipes such as pasta mixes & Chinese which can be prepared with very little meat. It's amazing how far a couple of rashers of bacon or one chicken breast can go in a pasta sauce or stir fry, mixed in with other things.

What I'm uncertain about is the carcinagenic risk of eating too smoked smoked food, such as smoked haddock, or smoked bacon, both of which are favourites in our house. Or whether too much barbequed food can be a risk. (We now cook our meat in a griddle pan over a barbeque rather than letting the meat come in direct contact with the smoke as we find barbequed meat very over-rated and the flavour ruined).

[Primrose]

Just a passing thought on red meat. When I was a child, best end of (lamb) neck was sold in the butchers as a cheap joint. Now that all the "cheffie types" on TV have started producing up-market recipes for this joint, trimming the fat off the ends of the bones and putting white frilly hats on them, they're sold as "rack of lamb" and cost a small fortune!

[freddy]

Hi folks.

I notice that the report also mentions 'processed' meat. Can anyone inform me what exactly is meant by that ? I seem to remember a while ago that someone said (not on here) that bacon counted as a processed meat, surely, it's raw meat isn't it ?

Cheers...Freddy

[alan refail]

Hi folks.

I notice that the report also mentions 'processed' meat. Can anyone inform me what exactly is meant by that ? I seem to remember a while ago that someone said (not on here) that bacon counted as a processed meat, surely, it's raw meat isn't it ?

Cheers...Freddy

Cured = processed

[freddy]

Hi folks.

I notice that the report also mentions 'processed' meat. Can anyone inform me what exactly is meant by that ? I seem to remember a while ago that someone said (not on here) that bacon counted as a processed meat, surely, it's raw meat isn't it ?

Cheers...Freddy

Cured = processed

Hi Alan. Excuse my ignorance, but doesn't that just mean it's been hanging around for a while?

[Johnboy]

Hi Freddy,
Reading your last comment I feel that a person who practices the art of curing Bacon would be rather dismayed. There is a lot of work put into curing Pork to produce Bacon. Read up on it Freddy 'cos its very interesting.
JB.

[freddy]

Hi JB.

Let me start by saying that I was being rather simplistic Having looked it up, it looks like a fairly straight forward process, basically adding salt http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/ar ... drycuring/

I can't see what would make it so 'dangerous'

[Johnboy]

Hi Freddy,
Then have a crack at curing Bacon and see how you get on.
And I would love to be a fly on the wall watching you.
Good luck 'cos you are going to need it!
Not as easy as you might think!
JB.

[freddy]

Hi JB.

I didn't say it was easy, what I was trying to convey was that the basic ingredient is salt, that's all. If you want to get all excited about my comments, then I apologise. I am simply trying to understand what makes bacon a 'processed' meat, that's all.

[Geoff]

Freddy : Suggesting cutting down on red meat AND processed meat means they are the same; the salt or whatever other processing (like creating corned beef) doesn't make them dangerous it is just saying you can't cut out ½lb of steak and eat ½lb of Spam instead. I'd recommend risking killing yourself with the steak.

[alan refail]

Hi JB.

I didn't say it was easy, what I was trying to convey was that the basic ingredient is salt, that's all. If you want to get all excited about my comments, then I apologise. I am simply trying to understand what makes bacon a 'processed' meat, that's all.

Perhaps my first post was too brief.

Put simply:

A piece of raw red meat is unprocessed - i.e. it has not been subjected to any process

A piece of salted meat is processed - i.e. it has undergone a process (salting)

Unprocessed bacon is pork, which is not, of course, a red meat.

[Johnboy]

Hi Freddy,
I'm afraid that it was a very poor attempt on my behalf to try and introduce some humour into the thread. I fear that my sense of humour may not be all that it should be.
Being addicted to Pork sausages as I am the thought of eating just one sausage per day or the equivalent in red meat horrifies me.
Strangely the last person I knew who sadly died of Bowel Cancer had been a life long Vegetarian yet her husband who is a person who eats meat and very little vegetable is still alive some 19 years after her death which seems to be at odds with the statistics.
Statistics can be manipulated but facts cannot. By leaving one fact out of an equation a statistic can completely reverse what the result might otherwise be, if you get my drift.
I think the saying is that there are lies, damn lies and statistics.
JB.

[Shallot Man]

I notice that approx 250 horses are running wild [paper talk] in Bridgend, apparently abandoned by the Gypsies. Though I was always under the impression they were used as a walking bank. Maybe it might be time to put horse flesh back on the menu.

[lizzie]

Me and the Grockie are dedicated carcass crunchers and love nothing than a good steak, lamb or pork. Cant do it every day but a couple of times a week. I've been doing loads of the Jamie Oliver 30 minute recipes and they're really tasty. But my fave is a piece of meat that's slow cooked and luscious. Cant beat it.