Is red meat bad? It depends who funded the study

In a review published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in May, scientists came to a concerning conclusion. Red meat appeared healthier in studies that were funded by the red meat industry.

- Caroline Hopkins Legaspi

NEW YORK - In a review published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in May, scientists came to a concerning conclusion. Red meat appeared healthier in studies that were funded by the red meat industry.

Of course, this is not surprising to anyone familiar with nutrition research, which often has conflicts of interest because of a lack of federal funding. But it is yet another example of how industry-linked studies might shape the way people understand, and potentially misunderstand, the health consequences of what they eat.

Past research funded by the sugar industry, for instance, has downplayed the relationship between sugar and health conditions like obesity and heart disease. And studies funded by the alcohol industry have suggested that moderate drinking could be part of a healthy diet.

Dr. Miguel Lopez Moreno, a researcher at Francisco de Vitoria University in Spain who led the new analysis, said in an e-mail that he wanted to know if similar issues were happening with the research on unprocessed red meat.

Processed meats such as bacon and sausage have been linked with heart disease risk, he said, but the evidence for unprocessed red meats like steaks and pork chops has been "far more mixed."

The question is timely, as influential people like United States Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and podcasters Joe Rogan and Lex Fridman have spoken favorably about meat-heavy diets and downplayed the health risks of saturated fats, to public health experts' concern.

People have long known that eating saturated fats, which are abundant in red meat, has been associated with cardiovascular disease. So, what does this new finding reveal about how financial interests can shape the way people understand what is good for them?

WHAT THE NEW REVIEW FOUND