Delicious UK - (01)January 2020

W

hileit’sunclearwhich

methodoffeeding

livestock– grassor

grain– is betterfortheenvironment,

whenit comestonutritionalvalue,

there’smoreconsensus.Scientists

agreethatgrass-fedanimalscan

producemeatormilkthatis richer

inomega-3fats,whicharelinkedto

a lowerriskofheartattackand

stroke.Productsfromgrass-fed

animalscanalsocontainmore

conjugatedlinoleicacid(CLA),

anothertypeofbeneficialfat,and

somevitamins.

Butdoesgrass-fedfoodhave

enoughofa nutritionaledgeto

makea differencetohumanhealth?

Andcanwegetthesamenutrients

fromlessexpensivefood,seafood

orevena plant-baseddiet?

WHATDEFINESGRASS-FED?

There’snolegaldefinitionbut

theUK’sPasture-FedLivestock

Association(PFLA)saystheterm

appliestoanimalsrearedon

pastureforatleast 51 percentof

theirlives.MostBritishbeefand

lambqualifiesasgrass-fed,butthis

isn’ttrueofmeatfromother

countries.IntheUS,forexample,

mostcattlearefattenedrapidlyon

grain-basedfeedfromninemonths.

Foodfromgrass-fedanimalsis often

organic,butorganicmilkormeat

isn’tnecessarilyfromgrass-fedcattle.

Somestudiessuggestfoodfrom

animalsfedongrassalltheirlives

containsthehighestconcentrations

ofthegoodstuff.“Themeatand

milkis themostnutritiousit canbe,”

saysthePFLA’sRussCarrington.In

theory,it workslikethis:ruminant

animalsthateatnutrition-rich

plantspassthenutrientsonto

humansintheirmilkandfat.

(TheAssociationrunsa certification

schemeinwhichfoodsfrom 100 per

centgrass-fedanimalscarrythe

PastureforLifelabel.)

Thebenefitsaren’t

clear-cut,though.

Nutritionally,

grass-fedmeatand

milkcanvarywildly

accordingtothe

pasture;theanimal

breed;itsfreedomto

roam;andwhetherit’s‘finished’on

grassorgrainpriortoslaughter.

THE‘GOODFATS’QUESTION

Themainhealthclaimsfor

grass-fedmeatandmilkcentre

ontheirhigherconcentrationsof

polyunsaturatedfats,particularly

omega-3s.ButProfessorIanGivens

oftheInstituteofFood,Nutrition

andHealthattheUniversityof

Readingsaysconsumersshouldbe

waryofclaimsthatgrass-fedmeat

andmilkcanimprovehealth.

“Thepercentageincreases[in

omega-3s]looklargebecausethe

amountsnormallypresentarevery

small,”hesays.“Inthecontextof

a normalmixeddietit’sunlikely

anymajorhealthbenefitswouldbe

seen,althougharguablyit is a move

intherightdirection.”What’s

more,thetypesofomega-3sfound

ingrain-fedmeatneedtobe

convertedbythebodyintothemost

beneficialkindsfoundinfishoil.

“Humansarenotveryefficientat

doingthat,”ProfGivenssays.

DrAlisonYeatesfromthe

NutritionInnovationCentrefor

FoodandHealthatUlsterUniversity

agrees.Shesaysherresearch(part

fundedbytheLivestockandMeat

CommissionforNorthernIreland)

suggestsconsuminggrass-fedmeat

canboostlevelsofomega-3sinthe

blood,butmorestudiesareneeded

toshowwhetherthisconfershealth

benefits.“Formeateaterswho

don’tregularlyconsumefish,

thisisa positivefinding,”she

says.“However,thetotalamount

ofomega-3fattyacidsingrass-fed

meatis muchlessthaninoilyfish,

whichis stillthebestdietarysource.”

BaheeVandeBor,a registered

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BEHIND THE HEADLINES

Nutritionally,meatand

milkfromgrass-fedanimals

canvarywildlyaccording

tothepasture,thetypeof

breedandotherfactors

Tho

ught

here’s

adeba

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therthe

grazingorgrain-feedingofanimalsisbet

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rass-f

edme

atand

milkare

widelyregar

dedasbeingmoreethical

andfa

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They

’real

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