Washington, D.C. — One of the most common misconceptions in nutrition is that meats such as hot dogs, bacon, sausage and deli meats cannot be part of a healthy, balanced diet. The newest Meat MythCrusher videofeaturing Texas A&M nutrition expert Kerri Gehring, Ph.D. explains their benefits in the diet and the many nutrients that these products deliver.
“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans say that processed meats can fit within a healthy dietary pattern, said Dr. Gehring. “They’re a great source of protein, they provide iron, Vitamin B12 and all different types of nutrients that people need.”
Dr. Gehring also details the data highlighted by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee showing that followers of the Mediterranean diet, which to many is considered the gold standard healthy diet, eat twice as much processed meat as those who follow the typical USDA food pattern. She discusses the many choices available amongst products like bacon, hot dogs and deli meats and how to find information about the ingredients used.
“All of the ingredients used will be on the label and any ingredients used must be approved for safety by USDA and FDA,” said Gehring
The North American Meat Institute has developed several new resources with additional information about meat nutrition and ingredients. These include a hot dog ingredients guide, listing all of the potential hot dog ingredients with details on why they’re used. The Meat Institute is also creating a new product center on its nutrition websitewww.meatpoultrynutrition.org with more information on the thousands of products that qualify for nutrition and health claims such as low or reduced sodium or fat.
The Meat MythCrusher video is the 52nd in the series jointly produced by the North American Meat Institute and American Meat Science Association. The videos feature interviews with meat scientists and other prominent experts on the most common myths surrounding meat and poultry production and processing. Altogether they have been viewed nearly 300,000 times and Meat MythCrusher printed brochures have been handed out to thousands of health, culinary and industry professionals around the country. Other topics include myths surrounding meat nutrition,antibiotic use in livestock, “Superbugs” in meat, Meatless Monday, hormone use in animals, ammonia in ground beef, grass-fed beef and more.
All of the videos as well as the brochure covering the different meat myths addressed in them are available at http://www.meatmythcrushers.com/
Source: North American Meat Institute