Meat News and Research

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Shoppers valued healthier, greener foods, but still chose meat

In a discrete choice experiment involving 272 Dutch adults, researchers examined how people valued meat, meat replacers, and legumes across pasta and traditional potatoes-meat-vegetables meals. Health and sustainability labels ranked highly, but participants still tended to favor meat when measured product attributes were held constant, with only modest differences across meal settings.

28 Sep 2026

New EASD study highlights red meat sugar as independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes

Preliminary results of an observational study being presented at the Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy (Sept 28 – Oct 2), reveal that a sugar called dietary N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), which is common in red meat, is independently associated with a 63% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) in those with the highest versus lowest consumption, even after taking into account other T2D risk factors such as level of physical activity, overall diet, smoking status and other health conditions.

28 Sep 2026

Common chemical exposures in pregnancy may be linked to early attention and memory

Researchers examined whether prenatal exposure to aromatic amines and cotinine was associated with attention, processing speed, and memory in 250 infants assessed at 7.5 months. The study found mixed patterns across cognitive measures, with several estimates suggesting poorer attention or memory but carrying substantial statistical uncertainty.

23 Sep 2026

Sugary drinks stood out in this stomach cancer study, but diet drinks did not

In two large US prospective cohorts, consuming more than one sugar-sweetened beverage a day was associated with higher gastric cancer incidence compared with consuming less than one serving a month. Artificially sweetened beverages were not associated with gastric cancer incidence, and the authors called for further studies to confirm the findings and clarify possible biological mechanisms.

21 Sep 2026

Finnish adults eat too little of some foods and too much of others, study finds

Analysis of dietary data from 1,655 Finnish adults found that usual food intake often differed substantially from the quantitative targets later set by the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023. Plant-based foods were generally underconsumed, while red and processed meat and dairy intake frequently exceeded study targets, with adherence varying by sex, education, physical activity, age, and energy intake.

16 Sep 2026

What children eat may leave a measurable signature in their blood

Researchers analyzed 236 blood metabolites in 421 children to examine metabolic signatures associated with three dietary patterns characterized by core foods, animal protein sources, or poor-quality fats and sugars. The results identified distinct, biologically plausible metabolite patterns across dietary exposures, although most individual associations did not survive multiple-testing correction and require validation in independent cohorts.

15 Sep 2026

Study links processed foods to targeted domain-specific cognitive decline

An unhealthy Western-style diet was associated with a faster cognitive decline in people with a genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to new research led by Murdoch University and Alzheimer's Research Australia.

15 Sep 2026

A study of more than 21,000 adults found an unusual link between psilocybin and diet

Using data from more than 21,800 adults in two UK birth cohorts, researchers found that lifetime psilocybin and LSD use was associated with stronger pro-environmental attitudes and a greater likelihood of following a vegetarian diet, with psilocybin showing the clearer dietary pattern. Mediation analyses suggested that environmental attitudes statistically accounted for the psilocybin-vegetarianism association and part of the association with lower red meat consumption, but the observational design cannot establish causation.

15 Sep 2026

Researchers changed the music in a cafeteria. Food choices shifted too

Across one cafeteria field experiment and three scenario-based studies, low-arousal background music was associated with a higher proportion of healthy food selections or stronger intentions to consume healthy foods than high-arousal music. In the scenario studies, perceived comprehension helped explain the relationship, while the final experiment found that both music conditions produced stronger healthy-food intentions than restaurant noise alone, with low-arousal music showing the greater benefit.

14 Sep 2026

Rice, seafood and water may help explain striking differences in metal exposure across US communities

Researchers compared urinary trace-metal profiles across 666 adults from six ethnic groups in three US cohorts, with up to 19 elements measured and paired serum measurements available for the Asian Indian MASALA cohort. Distinct metal patterns emerged across populations, with the findings suggesting that diet, drinking-water sources, regional hydrogeology, urban-rural conditions, smoking, and physiological handling may all contribute to differences in exposure profiles.

8 Sep 2026

What four pregnancy eating patterns revealed about mothers and newborns

Researchers analyzing 1,404 pregnant women in Germany identified four distinct dietary patterns that differed substantially in maternal BMI, socioeconomic status, age, and gestational weight gain. A vegetable-rich pattern was also associated with selected neonatal measures, including greater birth length, but most newborn associations were modest or nonsignificant, and the observational study cannot establish causality.

6 Sep 2026

Ancient parchment reveals historical evolution of destructive sheeppox virus

Some of Europe's most well-known historic manuscripts, including the York Gospels, have proven to be biological time capsules for uncovering the 3,500-year history of the sheeppox virus (SPPV).

4 Sep 2026

Americans differ widely in understanding of plant-based diets

When referring to diet, the term "plant-based" has mixed interpretations among U.S. adults, and its meaning varies significantly among demographic groups, according to new research published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.

27 Aug 2026

New study tracks global colorectal cancer risk across 185 nations

Colorectal cancer has long been recognized as a major global health threat, but its burden is far from evenly distributed. Incidence and mortality rates vary dramatically across countries, and these differences are closely tied to socioeconomic development, dietary transitions, and the adoption of screening programs.

26 Aug 2026

Martha's Vineyard Hospital launches study to better understand alpha-gal syndrome

Martha's Vineyard Hospital, a member of Mass General Brigham, has begun recruiting participants for a research study designed to better understand alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a potentially serious allergic condition associated with lone star tick exposure.

25 Aug 2026

Ancient dental calculus reveals diverse diets of Japanese commoners

What did ordinary people really eat in premodern Japan, beyond the dishes described in cookbooks and the bones discarded at urban waste pits? Reconstructing past diets at the level of individual food items is remarkably difficult.

25 Aug 2026

Tick-borne alpha-gal syndrome poses potential risks during blood transfusions

A new multi-institute study led by researchers at Dartmouth Health and Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth suggests that alpha-gal syndrome, the tick-borne disease that can result in a chronic allergy to meat and animal byproducts, also may complicate certain patients' ability to safely receive a blood plasma or platelet transfusion.

24 Aug 2026

Study shows how prostate tumors rewire metabolism to resist therapy

Prostate tumors can rewire amino acid metabolism to override the normal brakes on cholesterol production, a process that may fuel hormone therapy resistance, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

20 Aug 2026

New sweating discovery reveals hidden limits of body cooling

The purpose of perspiration was a mystery in 1775, when English physician Charles Brian Blagden and a few inquisitive friends experimented on themselves by spending time in rooms heated to over 230° Fahrenheit.

20 Aug 2026

A decades-long study raises questions about sugary drinks and stomach cancer

A large prospective U.S. study followed more than 111,000 adults to examine whether sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverage intake was associated with gastric cancer incidence. Researchers identified 278 gastric cancer cases over 3.2 million person-years and found that associations differed according to beverage type and level of consumption.

19 Aug 2026