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Decreased red meat fat consumption in New Zealand:
1995–2002
Murray Laugesen
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Abstract
Aim To review New
Zealand red meat and meat fat supply trends before and after the introduction of
the Quality Mark standard.
Methods Review of
trends in: per capita meat fat supply estimates from the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO); carcase and meat cut composition reports of
knife dissection and chemical analyses; the fate of fat trim; and a Lincoln
College study of home-cooked and trimmed beef.
Intervention From
September 1997, the red meat industry’s Quality Mark required trimming of
beef and lamb cuts to no more than 5 mm external fat.
Results
(1) Trimming of fat from red meat before
sale (supported by virtually all butchers) decreased the fat and saturated fat
content of a red meat carcase by 30% (beef, -27%; lamb, -30%; tallow unchanged);
by -8% in the total food supply; and by -17% across all meat. In 2002, fat
comprised 7.4% of trimmed beef cuts, and 11.2% of all beef sold: cuts, mince, or
sausages. In 2002, fat comprised 15.3% of lamb cuts; and 15.5% with mince
included. (2) From 1995 to 2002, total saturated fat availability per capita in
the food supply decreased by 19% (from 65 g to 53 g per day), mostly due to 7 g
less saturated fat daily from red meat. (3) When combining effects (1) and (2),
saturated fat per capita decreased: -27% in total food supply; -65% in red meat
excluding tallow; -48% in red meat including tallow. In 1995 (without trimming),
red meat contributed 25% of saturated fat in the total food supply whereas in
2002, red meat contributed 19% before (and 13% after) trimming. (4) Home
trimming may remove an additional 27% of fat from beef steaks.
Conclusion
Centralised meat processing, and Quality Mark labelling since 1997, ensured fat
was trimmed from beef and lamb cuts, and reduced saturated fat in red meats by
30%. In 2002, mince and sausages accounted for nearly half of beef fat sold as
red meat.
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This study updates meat and meat fat supply trends during
1995–2002, and adjusts for trimming of fat from red meat. It updates
Laugesen and Swinburn’s previous paper on meat fat in the food supply:1
- Laugesen
and Swinburn’s previous paper found high per capita supply of meat
fat—In 1995, New Zealand
had the highest per capita supply of butter and of meat fats among 24 OECD
countries.1 In 1995, red meat (beef and sheepmeat) contributed one-quarter of
the total saturated fat in the food supply.1
- Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO) data assume a standard fat percentage per
carcase—FAO food supply
data, based on trade and production data, allow comparison of country food
supplies internationally and down through time. Food supply statistics are about
meat for sale, but may not account for pre-sale trimming of fat. FAO estimations
are expressed in terms of the primary product (unprocessed meat). Since FAO set
the original carcase-fat content percentages in 1948, animal breeding,
processing, and meat cooking practices have changed considerably.
- Food
composition data are available for cuts but not for carcases—The
FAO definition of beef is based on bone-in weight,3 so that edible beef is 17%
less than the beef supply stated in the food balance.4 No carcase analysis of
sheep meat since 19784, and of beef since 198612 was obtainable.
- Changes
at retail and in the national diet—Nutrition surveys (based on
24-hour recall) indicate that total fat as a percentage of energy in the food
supply reduced from over 40% in 1977;5 to 37.5% in 1989;6 and to 34.9% in 1997.7
Data for the 1997 survey were collected between December 1996 and November
1997,7 largely before the red meat industry took action to trim fat and label
with the Quality Mark standard in September 1997.
The New Zealand Ministry of Health estimated
approximately 4700 deaths in 1997 (17% of all deaths) were attributable to
higher than optimal total blood cholesterol—a measure driven largely by
dietary saturated fat.8 Of these deaths, 87% were due to ischaemic heart disease
and 13% due to stroke.8 In 2000, ischaemic heart disease still accounted for
22%, and stroke for 10%, of all deaths.9
Between 1995 and 2000, however, the age-standardised
mortality rate for vascular disease (mainly ischaemic heart disease and stroke)
at age 35–69 years decreased remarkably, by nearly one-third for men and
one-fifth for women.9 Smoking prevalence at age 35 and over in 1995–2000
decreased from 23.3% to 21.3%10—which could not explain such a mortality
reduction in both sexes. Meat fat trends merited further study.
The heart-health status of
lean red meat—A recent review found that lean red meat was low in
saturated fat and (if consumed in a diet low in saturated fats) was associated
with reductions in LDL-cholesterol in both healthy and hypercholesterolemic
subjects.11
Certainly New Zealanders remain high consumers of red meat (115 g per
capita per day in 20022), and leanness of the red meat supply is of
public health importance.
Because of these many factors, an updated assessment of red
meat fat consumption was overdue. This study focused on meat fat derived from
red meat (beef, and lamb), which contributes half of the meat fat in the food
supply.
Methods and data sources
Red meat and meat fat
definitions—Red meat here includes bovine or sheep meat. Fat from
red meat, however, also includes the separable fats—fats (rendered to
tallow) removed initially, and the fat discarded later by the butcher.
Food balance
data—Data for 1995, 2000, and 2002 for New Zealand were updated
from the 2004 versions of the food balance sheets.2 These balance sheets depend
on agricultural surveys for estimation of beef and lamb production, surveys
which were conducted annually until 1996, then published on the Ministry of
Agriculture website for 1999 and 2002. Data for the balance sheets were collated
by Statistics New Zealand and provided directly to FAO until 1996 (after which
FAO collected its own data from publications and official websites).
Carcase fat content
data—As in Laugesen and Swinburn’s previous paper,1 fat
estimations were based on FAO data on carcase composition. The most recent large
dissection study of beef carcases was in 1981–5.12 To estimate the fat
content of meat cuts as sold, the chemical fatcontent in 2002 of each cut, as
trimmed to 5 mm fat maximum,13 was multiplied by the weight of each saleable cut
itemised in the price per kg for sale records of dressed carcases from a
supermarket (J Dawber, Foodstuffs South Island Ltd, Personal Communication,
December 2005) and from ‘The Mad Butcher,’ a popular low-cost
independent franchise butchers’ chain.14 (These were mostly commercially
sensitive data sources.) Beef carcases were described as P grade in 1981, 180 kg
beef in 1985, P grade carcase in 1992-4, 206 kg carcase in 1999, and P grade
carcase in 2002. Lamb carcases included a 23 kg hogget circa 1985 and 18 kg
carcases in 1992 and 2002.
Fat trimming
trend—Information relating to meat industry activities was gained
from administrators, processors, and retailers. To study the effects of meat
trimming and processing apart from farm and breeding effects, the fat content of
the meat for sale from a 1992 beef carcase (23% fat in the edible carcase) was
compared with the same grade and weight of carcase in 2002 (26% fat in the
edible carcase).
Trend in saturated fat
in total diet—The estimated fat content of fat-trimmed versus
untrimmed beef and sheepmeat, derived as above, were entered into the Health New
Zealand Ltd international food and nutrition database (HNZifn),1 a spreadsheet
that enabled estimation of the effect of trimming meat to various fat content
percentages, on saturated fat supply, while holding meat supply data unchanged.
HNZifn contains over 70 FAO food categories,2 uses
British food composition tables,4and over 110 nutritional descriptors to
estimate food and nutrition supply per capita. Fat content per 100 g of edible
portion was listed as: 22.0 g for beef, 27.5 g for sheepmeat, and 93 g for
animal fat (beef fat). Saturated fat content was listed as 6.75 g, 14.72 g, and
41.8 g respectively.
Fat loss in cooking
and eating—To establish how much meat fat New Zealand consumers
actually ate within the home, we reviewed a Lincoln University study of 191
pairs (one fatty, one already trimmed) of beef steaks for home cooking.
Participants were asked to pan fry their steaks, collect all the fat trimmed,
and note any fat added during cooking. They also collected any fat trimmed after
cooking—i.e. plate waste. Fat was estimated by imaging, which correlated
well with chemical measurements.15
The
intervention—The Quality Mark (Table 2) was introduced by the Beef
and Lamb Marketing Bureau and the red meat industry in September 1997 for beef
and lamb. Abbatoirs supplied primary cuts to retail butchers who then trimmed
the cuts for retail sale to no more than 5 mm of external fat (equivalent to 90%
lean and 10% fat by chemical analysis). Consumers supported this move.
Intermuscular fat may be removed but intramuscular fat is retained for taste
reasons.
In 2004, the two main suppliers to the New Zealand
market sold 97% of their beef and lamb cuts under the Quality Mark (H Bayliss,
Land Meat New Zealand Ltd and D McClenaghan, Auckland Meat Processors; personal
communication; December 5, 2004). The Mad Butcher chain also used Quality Mark.
The few rural home-kill butchers were not part of this scheme. In
2000–2004, over 90% of all beef and lamb cuts (especially steaks and
chops) were probably sold under Quality Mark, or dressed to an equivalent fat
trim. Quality Mark does not include processed meats such as luncheon meat, nor
mutton, cow, or bull meat.
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Pre-1997
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% Fat*
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Since 1997
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% Fat*
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Beef, carcase 1981-512 Lamb, carcase, UK 19784
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23.3 30.5
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Beef carcase, trimmed, 2002 Lamb carcase, trimmed,
2002
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7.1 15.5
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Sausages 1995 (one major supplier)
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25–30
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Food Standards Code 2002
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<25
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Two supermarkets, 2004
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3–23
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Mince, UK, 19783
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16.2
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Quality Mark mince 1997
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<10
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Sirloin roast lean and fat3 Topside roast lean and
fat3
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21.1 12.0
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Cooked beef steaks, as eaten, trimmed at home; grilled.
2003.14
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4–8
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*As percentage of the edible
carcase or product. Assumes no trimming of fat prior to sale before
1997.
Results Changes in the fattiness of retailed meat
Saleable beef as a percentage of the
carcase weight, declined from 67% in the 1981–5 survey12 to 63% in the
2002 carcase. No trend in the fat trimmed off was discernable from the few
cutting records obtainable. Fat as a percentage of the meat sold (including
cuts, mince and sausages) remained steady across the cutting records
studied—at 6.8% in 1992, 7.1% in 1999, 7.1% in 2002—although the
grade and breed were not stated.
Two typical heifer half carcases (of 100 kg within the same
grade) ten years apart, processed by the same organisation using the same cuts
were butcher dissected. The 2002 carcase yielded 63.2 kg (7.6 kg less) saleable
meat, comprising 19 kg (7.3 kg more) mince, 1.6 kg (4.0 kg less) for sausages,
with 13.0 kg (1.7 kg more) fat left over, and 2.5 kg more bone and waste.
Meat sold as chuck steak, for example, reduced from 6.23 kg
to 4.45 kg, thus indicating greater trimming of fat. The 1.7 kg net reduction in
fat retained for sale (as meat cuts, mince, or sausages) in the 2002
half-carcase was equivalent to 9.4% of the total carcase fat (trimmable or not)
in 1992.
Meat cuts
In 2002, chemical fat content per 100g edible portion in
beef cuts (trimmed to a 5 mm fat margin) varied from 2% fat (topside) to 11%
(sirloin), thus averaging around 6% fat.13 Lamb cuts varied from 7% fat (lamb
shoulder lean) to 28% fat (lamb shoulder chop trimmed to 5 mm fat).13
Mince
Mince, whether made from butchers’ meat trimmings or
from mutton, must contain less than 10% fat to qualify for the Heart
Foundation’s ‘Pick the Tick’ program or a Quality Mark. Most
mince sold in the shops inspected made no such claims, and tested at 20% fat.13
Sausages
The Food Standards Code, introduced at the end of 200216
required sausages to contain no more than 33% fat. A major sausage supplier said
their sausages were 25%-30% fat in 1995, whereas voluntary labelling listed fat
content between 12% and 18% fat. Fat content labelling is voluntary, but should
be accurate. Some brands did not state any fat content. Other brands were
labelled at 3.4% and 23% fat, commonly 16% fat. Heart Foundation’s
‘Pick the Tick’ required less than 10% fat content, but even without
the tick, some brands were labelled as 11% fat.
Processed meat
The Quality Mark scheme excludes processed meats such as
sausages and luncheon meat. The Code requires that meat products be true to
their name, so that a steak and kidney pie must state that it contains no less
than 25% steak and kidney, although there is no fat maximum. Processed meat must
contain no less than 30% meat.
Offal
FAO estimated offal supply per capita in 2002 at 14.0g
including 0.4 g fat.2 Kidneys contain 3% fat, but processors now package liver
and kidney fat-free to retailers.
The fate of meat fat
Fat sold in meatcuts,
mince, or sausages—Of a 100 kg side of dressed beef carcase in
2002, 24 kg was inedible bone, 13.0 kg fat was discarded, and 63.1 kg was
saleable meat containing 7.1 kg fat comprising:
- 3.1
kg fat left in (or on) 42.5 kg of trimmed meat cuts (7% fat);
- An
estimated 0.2 kg fat in 1.6 kg sausages (12.5% fat);
- 3.7
kg fat in 19 kg of mince (20% fat).
Fat formed
7.4% of the weight of the meat cuts, and 11.2% of the 63.1 kg of meat sold. In
this carcase, more fat went into mince and sausages that was sold in meat
cuts.
Raw animal
fat—According to FAO food balance sheets, under half of the raw
knife-separable animal fats retained for domestic supply in 2002 entered the
food supply, providing 14.6 g of fat per capita per day,2 mostly from beef. The
amount of beef fat returned to the food supply (apart from fat in sausages and
mince) amounted to 27% by weight of the weight of beef sold as cuts, sausages or
mince. Tallow from sternal, kidney, channel, or omental fat deposits (which are
easier to render into edible tallow) is used for making cooking margarine,
dripping (used in frying oils), and baked goods. Inedible tallow is used for
soap. Sheep fat has a characteristic odour limiting its inclusion with other
animal fats for food.
Fat trim was either sold to tallow or by-product companies.
Small independent butchers were restricted by Food Standards Code16 as to the
permitted fat content in sausages, burgers, and processed meats.
Meat fat supply trends
As Table 2 shows, from 1995 to 2002, total fat per capita
entering the food supply from meat and meat products in total declined 16% (from
76.1 g a day in 1995 to 64.3 g in 2002), whereas fats from red meat declined 27%
(from 59.0g in 1995 to 42.9g in 2002). In contrast, fats of white meat origin
(pork, bacon, ham, poultry) increased, from 13 g to 19 g. These changes
reflected changes in the meat supply, without allowing for any change in the
fattiness of each class of meat.
Carcase composition trends
Lamb and mutton
From 1997 onwards, meat cuts were sold with less fat
attached. From 1948, FAO estimated the bone-in carcase to be 22.8% fat; which at
83% edibility4 would equate to 27.5% fat. This increased to 30.5% fat for a
dressed bone-out UK carcase in 1978.4
In the 2002 lamb carcase of 18 kg, and based on chemical
analysis of the cuts, half (50%) of the fat was trimmed off and half sold as
meat (including mince and sausages). Total fat content of the edible carcase was
26.7% and (of the portions sold in 2002) fat was estimated at 15.5%. According
to the data, the fattiness of the sheepmeat carcase has changed little in 25
years, but 42% of sheepfat is now discarded.
Beef
In 1948, FAO estimated that an average (untrimmed) dressed
beef carcase contained 18% fat. Based on 83% edibility,4 this would equate to
22% of the edible dressed carcase. In 1978, British tables found that fat
comprised 24.3% of the edible dressed carcase weight. In 1981–5, for a P
grade heifer, knife-separable fat was 17%, and non-separable fat 10% of the lean
(by visual estimate).12
In the 1999 butcher-trimmed beef carcase14 edibility was 82%
of the dressed carcase. Meat cuts with fat trimmed, mince, and sausages
comprised 72% of the dressed carcase and bone was 16%. Total fat was 20% of the
dressed carcase (12.5% discarded, plus 7.5% sold on, or in the meat cuts, or in
mince and sausages). Fat content of a beef carcase was only 2 percentage points
less than half a century before.1
Of the trimmed and discarded fat that comprised 12.5% of the
carcase weight, less than half would have reappeared as edible tallow,2 whereas
72% of the dressed carcase was sold as meat. If meat cuts, mince, and sausages
were all included, estimated fat content of the edible dressed beef carcase (as
prepared for sale at retail in 2002) was 11.2%. For 2002, FAO estimated a daily
per capita supply of 59.3 g beef (of which 3.9 g was fat) and 15.4 g of raw beef
fat (mostly tallow).2
Trends in fat and saturated fat of the food supply (Tables 2 and 3)
With respect to meat fat, after combining food composition
and FAO food supply data for 2002 in the Health New Zealand database1 without
allowing for trimming of meatfat, per capita daily supply was estimated at 13.0g
beef fat, 14.6 g separable fat, 15.3 g lamb or mutton fat, 9.7 g pig fat, 11.1g
poultry fat, and 0.6 g game fat—a total of 64.3 g meat fat.2 (Table 2).
After trimming of fat in 2002, 11.2% of the meat from a
dressed (bone-in) beef carcase, and 15.5% of the meat from a lamb carcase
(trimmed, cut and presented for sale at retail) was fat.14 For beef, the 11.2%
value allowed for fat sold as mince or sausages, which accounted for 46% of the
beef fat sold.
Based on the 11.2% fat content of beef and the 15.5% fat
content of lamb after trimming as estimated above, and not counting separable
fats, we estimated that in 2002 trimming of fat nearly halved the fat sold as
red meat: from 28.3 g of fat per capita per day untrimmed, to 15.2 g fat per day
trimmed (Table 2); and from 12.2 g of saturated fat per day untrimmed to 6.6 g
fat per day trimmed (Table 3).
Saturated fat consumption decreased by 12 g between 1995 and
2002 (from 65.3g to 53.2g; 19%); most of this decrease was due to decreased red
meat supply causing a 7 g decrease in saturated fat. (Table 3)
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Variable
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Untrimmed
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After
Trimming
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1995
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2000
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2002
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2002
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Red meat
fats Beef fat Separated animal fat Mutton fat
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23.8 13.0 22.2
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15.7 14.4 14.4
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13.0 14.6 15.3
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6.6 14.6 8.6
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White meat
fats Pig meat Poultry
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7.9 8.3
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9.0 9.6
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9.7 11.1
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9.7* 11.1*
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Other meat
fats Game, offal
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0.9
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0.6
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0.6
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0.6
|
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Total meat fats Red meat fat fraction
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76.1 0.78
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63.9 0.69
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64.3 0.66
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51.2 0.58
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*Unadjusted. Source:
Health New Zealand food and nutrition database, based on FAO meat supply data,
and FAO percentage fat estimates for the carcase, after allowing for inedible
fractions. Raw animal fat (tallow) is estimated as 93% fat, and assumed to be
all from beef.
Between 1995 and 2002, combining the change to trimming of
red meat fat with a decreased red meat supply ( Table
3), saturated fat sold as beef, mince, or sausages declined 72%, and sold as
lamb, declined 61%. In the total food supply overall, saturated fat reduced 27%
after allowing for both the reduced supply of red meat and the increased
leanness of red meat cuts sold (Table 3).
Ulbricht and Southgate’s17 atherogenicity index in the
2000 and 2002 food supply, based on the balance of fats in the total diet, was
unchanged by trimming, but the thrombogenicity index,17 was 3% to 4% lower.
Changes in the amount of trimming of fat at home after purchase
In 1990 (and again in 1997) approximately two-thirds of
consumers said they trimmed fat from their meat6 7 though to an unknown extent.
In a 2003 Lincoln University study, 191 consumers were each asked to cook one
already-trimmed and one untrimmed steak; participants knife-trimmed the fat
before or after cooking. An average lean steak lost 70% of its fat in cooking,
and a fatty steak lost about 60%, mostly due to home trimming. After frying or
grilling, average fat content was 9.5g of fat per 100g of porterhouse steak, but
this varied according to the fattiness of the steak. A fatty steak (24–39%
fat) resulted in 13.0 g fat per 100 g as eaten whereas a lean steak
(14%–23% fat) resulted in 5.5g of fat per 100g steak as eaten.18
Discussion
Principal findings
The fattiness of the beef or lamb carcase appears to have
changed little over half a century, but in 2002, 30% of the total fat from a red
meat carcase was discarded before sale. Less meat in the food supply and
reductions in the fattiness of red meat available for sale, combined to reduce
meat fat from red meat (excluding tallow) in the food supply by 65% between 1995
and 2002. Including tallow, the reduction was 48%.
Per capita supply of beef and sheep meat decreased by 36%
between 1995 and 2002. Assuming no change in the fattiness of red meat, then the
supply of fat and saturated fat from red meat also decreased in this proportion.
If, however, we also adjust for the trend to knife-trimming
of fat from meat by processing butchers, then meat fat and saturated meat fat
from red meat decreased by a further 29%. The Heart Foundation had urged
trimming of meat fat since its first Food Festival campaign in 1987. In the
1990s two-thirds of consumers said they trimmed fat from meat.6 7 From 1997, the
industry’s Quality Mark, (requiring central processors and supermarket
chains to trim to 5 mm fat) ensured that leaner cuts became the norm for
virtually everyone buying meat as steaks or chops.
The Lincoln College consumers study highlights the
importance of pre-sale trimming, and the advantages of an industry-wide change
to make this happen, rather than relying only on health education of consumers.
Although 87% of consumers were sufficiently concerned to trim meat fat at home,
those cooking pre-trimmed steaks ate much less fat than those eating untrimmed
steaks (5.5 g versus 13.0 g per 100 g edible beef).
We estimated the approximate
additional effect of home trimming of
beef to be a 26% reduction in fat, (from 7.4% average fat for meat cuts
estimated for the 2002 side of beef to 5.5% achieved in this home cooking
study), as the ‘lean’ steaks in the home cooking study were fattier
than the 2002 side of beef.
The fat content of most mince and sausages is higher than in
most meat cuts. The main factors now affecting meat fat consumption are the
ratio of mince and sausages to meat cuts, and the fat content of mince and
sausages—for which fat labelling is voluntary.
How the findings compared with other sources
For 2002, FAO estimated 59.3g of beef, and 55.7g of
sheepmeat per person per day in the food supply, besides 15.4g of separated fat
(mainly tallow). This study estimated 29.4g of fat per person per day after
trimming: 6.6g in beef, 8.6 g fat in sheepmeat, and raw fat 14.2g. FAO estimated
fats from red meats totalling 33.8g per person per day: 3.9g in beef, 14.5g in
sheepmeat, the rest being raw fat.2 For 2002, the FAO-compiled data were
consistent with the trimming of fat from beef but not from sheepmeat.
Strengths and weaknesses of the study
New Zealand-derived food composition data tables13 described
most cuts of meat. For a few cuts of unknown composition we conservatively
assumed 10% fat content after trimming. Few cutting records of carcases with
which to assess trimming trends were obtainable, making it difficult to
distinguish time trends from individual carcase variation.
In 2002, an estimated 5.5 g of saturated fat (Table 3) and
13.1 g of total fat per capita per day (Table 2) were trimmed off total meat due
to trimming of red meat. If white meats were also trimmed, then the 19%
reduction in saturated fat in the total diet due to red meat (Table 3) is an
underestimate. If the coverage of the Quality Mark was only 80%, then the
reduction in fat is correspondingly reduced; however the mark has made trimming
of fat the norm.
The annual FAO food balances, begun in 1961, were collated
by Statistics New Zealand up until 1996. It is unclear if FAO statistics reflect
all the changes in meat processing. For example, the fat composition data of
trimmed cuts for this study require purchase10 and may not have been
electronically available to the FAO.
The way forward
Red meat cuts as sold have undoubtedly become leaner in
recent years. The meat industry monitors the end product, but there is as yet no
statistical system to report back this achievement to the consumer.
The Quality Mark scheme applies to almost all red meat, and
merits formal on-going monitoring, with the results published annually based on
methods such as:
- Random
checks of the fat content of mince and sausages; and
- Monitoring
of the ratio of sold weight of mince and sausages to total meat cuts, using
sentinel stores or other means.
The actual data
and formulae used by FAO in calculating meat and meat fat balances for New
Zealand should be monitored by and transparent to New Zealand producers and
health groups, so that the data and can be interpreted correctly by all
concerned.
Further improvements are occurring. In 2004, one supermarket
chain in 2004 introduced central processing and distribution of retail cuts
ready for sale, enabling tighter control of fat content. In 2005, closer
trimming of fat on all red meat cuts was under consideration.
In summary, the Quality Mark applies to virtually all red
meat sold and further improvements are possible. Trimming of red meat before
sale has decreased the fattiness of red meat (cuts, mince, sausages, plus
separable fat) by 30%. From 1995 to 2002, coupled with a decreased red meat
supply saturated fat per capita from red meat decreased 65%.
What
this paper adds
The fat composition of
the beef and lamb carcase has remained much the same for half a century, but red
meat cuts as sold are now 30% leaner, following on from the introduction of a
Quality Mark standard and industry-wide pre-sale trimming of red meat cuts in
1997.
In 2002, after trimming,
a dressed beef carcase (cuts, mince, and sausages as sold) averaged 11% fat, and
a lamb carcase 15%.
Home trimming of meat
fat after purchase may have further decreased saturated fat consumption.
Author information:
Murray Laugesen, Public Health Physician, Health New Zealand Ltd, South
Auckland
Acknowledgements:
This work was supported by the New Zealand Beef and Lamb Marketing
Bureau.
Correspondence: Dr
Murray Laugesen, 23 Keven Rd, RD 4, Pukekohe 1800, South Auckland. Tel (0274)
884 375; email: laugesen@healthnz.co.nz
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