Lean? here do Wthe bro- chures, posters, and voluntary labels for meat get their num- bers? In most Don’t fall for tricky meat cases, from the USDA’s data- & poultry claims base. And where does the USDA BY LINDSAY MOYER & JENNIFER URBAN gets its numbers? 0" trim? Fat chance. It’s no secret that Americans need to cut back on meat. While we Mostly from, or now eat more chicken than beef, we still eat too much red meat, with funding from, the beef and pork industries. Hmm... especially beef. That’s bad news for our health and for the planet. The USDA’s database has numbers for beef that has had People who eat more red meat—especially processed meat—have the fat around its edges trimmed down to just ⁄8” or 0”. a higher risk of colon cancer, heart disease, and stroke. (The pork industry never even says how much its cuts were trimmed.) And it doesn’t help that misleading information about meat or The USDA also has numbers for what’s called “separable poultry can trick even the most careful shoppers. Here’s what to lean.” That’s after scalpel-wielding technicians trim off the watch out for. “separable fat”—every bit of fat except marbling within the muscle. Missing labels? All that trimming (where do you keep your scalpel?) helps explain how the beef industry’s website can end up touting voluntarily, you’re 38 cuts of “lean” beef. The list even includes fatty cuts like stuck with a brochure New York strip steak and brisket. or poster that the U.S. Apparently, if you’re footing the bill, you get to make the Department of Agricul- rules. ture allows instead of labels on packages. Can’t nd the post- 70 percent er? Is it missing the lean? cut of meat you want? You’re out of luck. round beef What’s more, the Gthat’s la- Didn’t know there were Nutrition Facts numbers you do nd beled “70% lean” posters for meat? This may be why. are for 4 oz. of raw might sound low meat, which cooks in fat. But with ooking for the Nutrition down to a petite 3 oz. 30 percent fat, L Facts for fresh meat and Most restaurant steaks weigh it’s the fattiest poultry? in at 6 to 16 oz. raw. If you eat ground beef you Unless you’re shopping for more than 3 oz., you’ll have to get 80% lean beef still has half a day’s sat fat. can buy. ground meat or looking at cuts out your calculator. (Our chart on Why don’t that companies have labeled p. 15 uses 4 oz. cooked servings.) ground beef labels list only their percent fat? Because also listing percent lean makes the meat sound, well, lean. And don’t confuse “lean” with “low-fat.” “Lean” meat White meat? has no more than 4½ grams of saturated fat per 4 oz. (raw) serving. It’s no skinless chicken breast. Only “extra lean” ccording to scientists, red meat means beef, lamb, veal, and meat (2 grams of sat fat, max) is in skinless chicken or yes, pork...despite decades of ads plugging “The Other A turkey territory. White Meat.” (Veal is the meat of young cows that have been With sh, the more fat, the merrier. Fatty sh, like salm- foxysgraphic/fotolia.com. Photos: Jennifer Urban/CSPI. made virtually anemic, which gives their flesh a lighter color.) on, are rich in unsaturated (heart-healthy) fat. You’re better off replacing red meats with chicken, turkey, or seafood. > Illustration: © MARCH 2018 | NUTRITION ACTION HEALTHLETTER 13 bn_UNAHMARCH18_b.indd 13 2/7/18 11:52 AM Organic? No antibiotics? “USDA Organic” seal means that the animals were given no antibiot- The Meat Counter ics, no hormones, only organic feed (grown without pesticides and not sing antibiotics to make animals grow A Best Bites (✔✔) have no more than 2 grams of saturated fat faster and prevent disease helps the in- genetically modied), and that they had at least some access to the out- U per serving (4 oz. cooked). We disqualified red meat. Num- dustry’s bottom line. But, over time, it may doors. (It doesn't guarantee the strongest animal welfare standards, though.) bers for meat include separable lean and fat, with a ¹∕8" trim make those antibiotics useless when people when available. Within each section, cuts are ranked from need them to ght off deadly bacteria. Humanely raised? least to most saturated fat, then least to most calories. laims like “humane” or “humanely raised” may mean that farms Cdon’t trim the beaks of poultry and cut the tails of cows and pigs... Poultry (4 oz. cooked) or they may not. The farms ✔✔ Turkey breast (whole or ground), no skin 150 0.5 may ensure that animals ✔✔ Chicken breast (whole or ground), no skin 190 1 can go outdoors or that ✔✔ Chicken drumstick, no skin 180 1.5 chickens can dust bathe ✔✔ Turkey wing, no skin 190 1.5 and pigs can root...or they ✔✔ Turkey breast, with skin 190 2 may not. The USDA doesn’t Chicken thigh, no skin 200 2.5 inspect farms to check. Ground chicken, 8% fat 200 2.5 To be sure you get hu- Chicken breast, with skin 220 2.5 manely raised meat, look Chicken wing, no skin 230 2.5 Look for “No antibiotics ever” claims that are “verified” by the USDA. for “Certied Humane” or Chicken drumstick, with skin 220 3 another certied seal. “An- Chicken thigh, with skin 260 4.5 So look for “raised without antibiotics” or imal Welfare Approved” Chicken wing, with skin 290 5.5 The “Certified Humane” seal is a good bet. “no antibiotics ever” on the label. has the strongest standards, Both are stronger than “no growth-pro- so you’re more likely to nd it at a natural food store or farmers mar- Beef (4 oz. cooked, ¹/8" trim unless noted) moting antibiotics.” The FDA has banned ket. Both are stronger than Top round roast, choice, 0" trim 180 2 that use, yet the claim appears on turkey “American Humane Certi- Eye of round steak, choice, 0" trim 190 2 sold by Shady Brook Farms and Honey- ed,” which allows caged Ground beef, 7% fat 220 4 suckle White. (Both companies still use hens and crates that don’t let Flank steak, choice, 0" trim 230 4.5 antibiotics to treat or prevent illness.) nursing pigs turn around, Eye of round roast, choice 240 4.5 Not all antibiotics claims are inde- for example. Top round steak (London broil), choice 250 4.5 pendently veried, so look for a USDA On Whole Foods’ and Ground beef, 10% fat 250 5 Process Veried seal next to the claim some other meats, you’ll see Bottom round roast, choice 250 5.5 ...or buy organic. Global Animal Partnership Flat iron steak, choice, 0" trim 260 6 labels, which rate animal Ground beef, 15% fat 280 6.5 welfare practices from Step 1 Top sirloin steak, choice 290 7 (slightly better than conven- Ground beef, 20% fat 310 7.5 “American Humane Certified” isn’t the tional) to Step 5+ (best). Filet mignon (Tenderloin steak), choice 310 8 strongest seal. New York strip steak, choice 310 8 Ground beef, 30% fat 310 8.5 Porterhouse steak, choice 320 9 Grass-fed? Chuck arm pot roast, choice 350 9 The claim is nothing special. Growth- veried (independently certied) seal Brisket (flat half or first cut), choice 340 9.5 promoting antibiotics are illegal. A like “American Grassfed” or “Certied All-natural? Grassfed by AGW” means that the animal had t sounds good but no grain ever and spent its life on pasture. But Imeans little. “Natural” Ground chicken meat with those seals isn’t always easy to nd. meat or poultry has no or turkey? With unveried grass-fed claims, there are no guar- articial ingredients or Sustainably raised? round chicken” or antees. The cattle may have spent their days grazing in added colors and is no ustainably raised” sounds good, but the claim has “ G “ground turkey” could the sunshine...or they may have munched on grass only more than “minimally “ S no ofcial denition. mean you’re getting meat plus when they were young. Or dried grass (typically hay) processed.” In fact, beef is a threat to the environment, no matter fatty skin and who-knows- could have been fed to cooped-up animals. But “natural” tells you how it’s raised. Producing each serving generates how-much of the fattier wings Grass-fed beef typically has (slightly) less fat than nothing about how the roughly ve times more greenhouse gases than pro- or thighs. grain-fed beef, but that only applies to comparable animal was raised, for ducing a serving of poultry and 20 times more than a Want less fat? Stick with whole cuts. When meat is ground, whoever is doing the example, or whether it serving of beans. “ground chicken breast” or grinding decides how much fat to blend in. got antibiotics. What’s more, it takes about 1,850 gallons of water to “ground turkey breast.” A regular beef patty and a grass-fed beef patty at produce each pound of beef—far more than pork (720 Chili’s, for example, each has roughly three-quarters of a gallons per pound) or chicken (520 gallons) or pretty Photos: Lindsay Moyer/CSPI (American Humane Certified), Jennifer Urban/CSPI (all others). day’s saturated fat. much any other food. Photo: Jennifer Urban/CSPI.