Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee pushes plant protein, sparking debate on red meat's role
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The livestock industry is pushing back on a recommendation from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to cut back on red meats in the diet and move toward more peas, beans and lentils as protein sources.
The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee held its seventh and final meeting regarding the 2025 Dietary Guidelines on Oct. 21, 2024.
During this meeting, the committee discussed modifying the order of protein foods subgroups to emphasize plant sources. So instead of having protein foods starting with meat, poultry and eggs, to seafood, then to plant-based protein, the categories would be flipped so that nuts, seeds and soy products are listed first, then seafood, then eggs, poultry and meat.
"Part of what we saw in all of our analysis were that the red meats, whether they were processed or not, were the ones to reduce more than the poultry or the eggs. So, I would put them very last," said committee member Christopher Gardner, of Stanford University, during the meeting.
Gardner said this recommendation is driven by systematic review evidence.
"What we did for sources of saturated fat, what we did for patterns, it was most often what you needed to reduce were the red meats, whether they were processed or unprocessed," Gardner said during the meeting.
The committee also proposed moving beans, peas and lentils to fall under the protein category for the healthy U.S. diet. Currently beans, peas and lentils are housed under the vegetable category, with the exception of the vegetarian diet, where these products are housed under both vegetables and proteins.
If beans, peas and lentils do get moved to the protein category, they would be listed first before nuts, seeds and soy products.
"It looks like we're recommending Americans eat less vegetables because you're pulling a sub food group or subgroup out of vegetables and putting it into protein foods, and we are telling Americans it looks like we need to eat more protein foods," said Sarah Booth, committee chair during the meeting. "I think the most important thing to realize is people do not eat enough vegetables already. We are not instructing, we are not saying that people need to eat less, it's just the beans, peas and lentils would be put in protein foods."
Deirdre Tobias, committee member from Harvard University, said there is a branding crisis surrounding protein.
"Behaviorally, I think there is sort of a branding crisis when it comes to protein thinking automatically meat," Tobias said during the meeting. "If there are more plant sources of proteins in the protein category, that could help overcome that mislabeling or misnomer or misinformation by having it more prominently not just all that meat line."
"Having more plant forward in the protein will encourage that choice more often just because you can actually visually see those choices, and it will give more flexibility," said Hollie Raynor, committee member from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. "From a pure substitute perspective, placing it in that category will help."
Organizations like the National Pork Producers Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association have pushed back against the committee's recommendations to reduce red meat in the dietary guidelines.
"The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee has the opportunity to benefit public health by following sound science," said Bryan Humphreys, National Pork Producers Council CEO in a press release. "While pork producers support the Committee's recommendation to increase protein intake, their recommendation to replace animal proteins will severely compromise the American diet, as plant proteins are not nearly as nutritionally rich."
"We simply know, especially as a registered dietitian, that beef cannot be replaced by beans, peas and lentils," said Shalene McNeill, executive director of Nutrition Science and registered dietitian with National Cattlemen's Beef Association. "Beef has high quality protein, great iron bioavailability. So, we need these nutrients, and they simply cannot be replaced by beans, peas and lentils."
Kaylee Gebhart is a dietitian at the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She said lean meat in moderation is what her organization recommends. She said they will not base their recommendations off of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's recommendations until they are official guidelines.
"As research comes out, you know, as dietitians we base all of our guidelines and our recommendations based on research, so whatever science shows us, you know, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, heart disease and diabetes and so on and so forth, a lot of those chronic conditions, then that's what we recommend to the public based on that science," Gebhart said.
Gebhart said there are benefits to incorporating beans, peas and lentils into the diet.
"Incorporating more of those non-meat proteins would definitely reduce our risk of some of those chronic diseases, so heart disease, cancers, diabetes," she said.
But red meat can still be a beneficial part of the diet, Gebhart noted.
"It definitely has the vitamins, iron, obviously a great source of protein," she said. "But limiting some of that can also limit your risk of heart disease especially."
While beans, peas and lentils may not have been labeled under the protein category, Gebhart said they have always been a source of protein.
"They've always been a part of the protein category, especially part of the Mediterranean diet," she said. "I think they're just starting to get more popular or more limelight because of those good health benefits that we see in people eating those."
Not all Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee members were in favor of moving beans, peas and lentils into the protein category.
"I actually think beans, peas and lentils should be in its own group," said vice chair Angela Odoms-Young. "My preference, as I said, would be to make it its own group. But I think it's OK to be in the vegetables, because we still do want to reinforce that there are some cultures that eat beans, peas and lentils as vegetables, you know, so I think it's okay to be in the vegetable group. I actually like it in the vegetable group."
Cristina Palacios, Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee member from Florida International University, said that in the Hispanic culture, beans are already viewed as a protein in the diet.
"I think at least in the Hispanic culture, this is seen as a protein group, and it's combined with rice and that's what many people consume, right, like rice and beans and that's it," Palacios said in the meeting. "They don't have a meat or any other source of protein, so that's the source of protein."
Sameera Talegawkar, committee member from The George Washington University, said in Asian cultures, beans, peas and lentils are also viewed as protein sources.
"It is in vegetarian diets, this is kind of the sole protein, if they don't eat eggs either," she said. "So, I would be OK with the chance of moving it to the protein group or having its own group."
McNeill said the nation has experienced four decades of dietary guidelines that have led to cutting back on red meat in the diet.
"But what we've seen is rising rates of obesity. We've seen rising rates of chronic diseases," she said. "So not only as a registered dietitian, but for beef farmers and ranchers, we should care about this topic because we don't have wiggle room in the American diet to cut back on nutrition."
McNeill said beef helps to close nutrient gaps in the American diet.
"We really need to keep beef at the levels we're consuming today in the diet," she said. "Now, we also need to build an overall healthier diet of course, but it's not at the expense of cutting back on beef intake."
Protein sources are not all created equal. McNeill referenced a r ecent study out of the University of Arkansas Medical Science that showed that eating beef is more beneficial than the plant-based alternatives.
The study suggests a person would need to consume double the amount of soy-based protein to achieve the same results as 100% ground beef. Beef also contains nearly half the calories of the soy-based products.
"That's a lot more calories, a lot less nutrients, more cost, and it's just unnecessary," McNeill said. "The fact that beef is really so important for getting high quality protein, getting those nutrients, it needs to be part of a healthy diet."
McNeill is concerned about what could happen if red meat guidelines are decreased in the American diet. It stretches beyond possible obesity rate and chronic disease increases.
"We've also even in the U.S. seen nutrient deficiency start to increase. We're seeing iron deficiency on the rise, not just in women, which we talk so much about, but also in men," she said. "We are seeing other nutrients that are associated with beef on the rise in the U.S. too and that's because on average, Americans are only eating about 1.5 ounces of beef per day. That's not much beef in the diet."
McNeill urges the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee to keep beef on the plate.
"It's part of what's ensuring the nutritional status that we do have today. Yes, there's room for improvement and yes, there's an opportunity to build healthier diets with beef," she said. "Not only as a registered dietitian, but also as a mom, something I've seen with my own family is it's a lot easier to get broccoli on the plate and get salad on the plate when we have a steak, or we have a beef item on the menu. So, I think beef can help build a healthier plate."
If producers want to get involved, they can text the word BEEF to 52886 to let their senators and representatives know that they can about this topic.
"The public needs to weigh in so that we get dietary guidelines that are achievable and practical and relevant," McNeill said. "I think most Americans are looking to eat healthier diets with beef rather than leave it off the plate."
The committee will finalize and submit its Scientific Report to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
