Dietitians say red meat not on chopping block amid guideline review

Dietitians have welcomed the plan to include climate change impacts into the country’s official dietary recommendations, but have downplayed concerns by some farmers over red meat.

The peak body representing dietitians has downplayed concerns that incorporating environmental sustainability messaging into the Australian Dietary Guidelines risked creating public distrust.

Dietitians have welcomed the plan to include climate change impacts into the country’s official dietary recommendations but said it might not come at the expense of red meat, as has been feared by some farmers.

The peak body representing dietitians downplayed concerns that incorporating environmental sustainability messaging into the Australian Dietary Guidelines risked creating public distrust, and said the change was consistent with other countries.

Australia’s red meat sector has criticised the move, fearing anti-red meat ideology will lead to consumers being told to eat less beef and lamb in favour of other protein sources with lower carbon footprints.

Dietitians Australia president Tara Diversi said the organisation had been calling for the National Health and Medical Research Council to integrate sustainability principles into the Australian Dietary Guidelines review, which is due to be completed in 2026.

“We can’t separate what we eat from the environment from which we source our food,” Ms Diversi said. “The guidelines must consider what is nutritionally adequate, the impact of recommend­ations on the environment and our natural resources, as well as what is accessible, affordable and culturally acceptable.”

Underpinning concerns raised by farmers are calls from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation for more “plant-rich diets” to meet global emissions ­reduction targets.

Red meat producers fear environmental assessments of beef and lamb will be based on overseas studies that do not consider the predominantly rangeland grazing of Australian livestock.

They are also worried it could undermine industry efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Dietitians Australia’s Food and Environment Interest Group co-convener Nicole Senior allayed the concerns, saying local production methods were more sustainable than elsewhere and that other countries, which could not produce red meat as sustainably, relied on Australian exports.

“We do things in terms of growing beef and cattle in Australia that are far superior to other places,” Ms Senior said. “That’s why it’s important to get subject area experts on board because they know that you can’t just take findings from a study somewhere else and plop it into Australia and hope the same will apply.

“It’s critical that we take a local context approach and hopefully the sustainability experts on the Dietary Guidelines Committee will bring that knowledge and insight to the table.”

Health Minister Mark Butler has distanced the government from including environmental impacts in the dietary guideline review, saying it was a decision made independently and that he would “trust the experts”.

The Red Meat Advisory Council has previously raised concerns about some of the views of one of the members of the Dietary Guidelines Expert Committee.

RMAC in 2021 wrote to the NHMRC, saying the views of University of South Australia Nutrition and Food Sciences pro­gram director Evangeline Mant­zioris showed an “anti-red meat agenda” and called for her to be dumped from the committee.

The NHMRC said Dr Mantzioris had expressed “a diversity of views about her academic area of work” and her appointment would not be terminated.

Dr Mantzioris was unable to comment on her input on the guideline review and referred The Australian to the NHMRC, which last week issued a statement saying “all stakeholders, including farmers and farming organisations, will have the opportunity to comment on the draft guidelines”.

“The dietary guidelines will first and foremost consider and advise on the health impacts of dietary patterns and food groups in the Australian context but may also consider other contextual factors,” the NHMRC said.

RMAC chair John McKillop urged Mr Butler to review the expert committee’s membership to “ensure environmental ideolo­gue’s seeking to advance an anti-red meat agenda haven’t infil­tra­ted the dietary guidelines review”.