NutriRECS Systematic Reviews of Red and Processed Meat Consumption

A new study  by NutriRECS, released last week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, recommended adults continue their current consumption of unprocessed and processed red meat.

NutriRECS (Nutritional Recommendations and Accessible Evidence Summaries Composed of Systemic Reviews), an independent group using systematic reviews to make nutritional recommendations, also used GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methods to rate certainty of evidence.

A panel of 14 members, including three community members, from seven countries voted on the final recommendations. Analyzing the data from five systematic reviews that encompassed 54,000 people, the researchers did not find a significant association between meat consumption and the risk of heart disease, diabetes or cancer. They also found a vegetarian diet provided few, if any, health benefits.

The study received heavy media coverage as part of a growing national debate on the validity of observational studies in making nutrition recommendations. The American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and others opposed the findings and requested the  Annals of Internal Medicine not publish them.

Additionally, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), filed a Federal Trade Commission complaint against the Annals of Internal Medicine for publishing the study alleging NutriRECS made false statements about ill health effects of red and processed meat.