NCBA Criticizes Dietary Committee’s Push to Reduce Red Meat in Favor of Plant-Based Proteins”
The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) has strongly criticized the recent recommendations from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which advocate replacing red meat with plant-based proteins like beans, peas, and lentils.
The NCBA argues that these recommendations are impractical and ignore the nutritional role of red meat.
Ethan Lane, NCBA Vice President of Government Affairs, stated, “The preview meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee this week stands out as one of the most out-of-touch, impractical, and elitist conversations in the history of this process.”
Lane expressed frustration that, despite extensive public discussion over nearly two years, the committee introduced last-minute shifts that he described as “chaotic new directions.”
He added, “We would laugh at the suggestion that beans, peas, and lentils are going to replace lean red meat and fill all the nutrient gaps Americans are facing if it weren’t such a dangerous and deceptive idea.”
Dr. Shalene McNeill, NCBA’s Executive Director of Nutrition Science and a registered dietitian, emphasized that the recommendation to reduce red meat could negatively impact vulnerable groups like adolescent girls, older adults, and women of child-bearing age.
“Beef contributes only 5% of the calories in the American diet, but more than 5% of essential nutrients like potassium, phosphorous, iron, B6, niacin, protein, zinc, choline, and B12,” McNeill noted, questioning the rationale behind the committee’s focus on reducing red meat.
She expressed concerns about the committee’s reliance on academic modeling and what she described as “weak science on red meat,” arguing it could lead to dietary guidelines that are neither practical nor beneficial.
As the committee prepares to submit its recommendations to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the NCBA continues to push for recognition of beef’s nutritional contributions in the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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