Draft Australian Dietary Guidelines (PDF, 3MB) - Eat For Health

interpret because of widely varying definitions of ‘meat’. Some studies include only unprocessedred meat. Others may include some or all of a variety of processed meats, including smoked,salted and chemically preserved foods, with meat within dishes such as pizza, lasagna or casserolesvariously included or excluded. The poor definitions partly explain the often inconsistent findingsin relation to health effects, with several large cohort studies and some Asian studies failing toadequately disaggregate possibly different effects of unprocessed red meat and processed meats. Inparticular, the definition of red meat varies greatly between studies.2.4.2.1.1 Lean meat: Cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and excess weightAn insufficient number of recent studies investigating the relationships between consumption ofmeat and cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and excess weight were identified in theliterature review to develop evidence statements [14]. A large cohort trial that found modestincreases in total mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cancer mortality with red and processedmeat intakes [287] was not included due to lack of clarity over the inclusion of processed meats,liver and sausages with unprocessed red meat.2.4.2.1.2 Lean meat: CancerColorectal cancer: There is evidence of a probable association between consumption of red meatand increased risk of colorectal cancer (Grade B, Section 4.7 in Evidence Report [14]) [42, 288-296]. The WCRF reported a convincing relationship between red and processed meat andincreased risk of colorectal cancer [42]. Several studies from Asian countries showed no increasedrisk of colorectal cancer associated with low intakes of red meat such as 27g per day [294] and42g per day [292].Renal cancer: The evidence suggests that consumption of red meat is associated with an increasedrisk of renal cancer (Grade C, Section 4.6 in Evidence Report [14]).Bladder and prostate cancer: The evidence suggests that consumption of red meat one to sixtimes per week is not associated with risk of bladder cancer (Grade C, Section 4.1 in EvidenceReport [14]) [42, 297, 298]. The evidence suggests that consumption of red meat is not associatedwith risk of prostate cancer (Grade C, Section 4.3 in Evidence Report [14]) [42, 299, 300].Pancreatic cancer: A review of the current evidence suggests that consumption of 30-200 gramsof red meat per day is not associated with risk of pancreatic cancer (Grade C, Section 4.2 inEvidence Report [14]) [42, 301].Other cancers: Recent evidence is inconclusive for an association regarding the consumption ofred meat and breast and lung cancer (Section 4.4, & 4.5 in Evidence Report [14]).DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 53