0:00:06 > 0:00:09Meat has been getting a lot of bad press lately.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14The World Health Organization have recently announced that eating some
0:00:14 > 0:00:16types of meat can cause cancer,
0:00:16 > 0:00:19and there's new research into how it's linked with heart disease.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23It seems as if meat has become public health enemy number one.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34So how worried should we be?
0:00:34 > 0:00:37Some think we shouldn't eat meat at all.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39But it seems most of us in the UK still love it.
0:00:41 > 0:00:4398% of us are meat eaters.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50This is the average amount of meat we eat each year in this country -
0:00:50 > 0:00:54around 54 kilos - and it's this breakdown -
0:00:54 > 0:00:59more processed meat than anything else, a fair pile of rib meat,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01and an increasing quantity of chicken.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03I love it all. Even uncooked like this,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06you can see all the potential dishes you could make,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08and I want to carry on eating meat.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12But I'm determined to get to the bottom of what it is about it
0:01:12 > 0:01:16that's bad, what's good, how much should I be eating,
0:01:16 > 0:01:18and is there any of this that I should avoid?
0:01:21 > 0:01:27I'm Chris Bavin. I'm a greengrocer by trade and a carnivore by nature.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31Like most of us, I want to be sure I'm eating the right things,
0:01:31 > 0:01:36so I want to see if I can keep meat in my diet and stay healthy.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Hello, chaps. Could I have a posh cheese, please?
0:01:39 > 0:01:44I've teamed up with top scientists to put meat under the microscope and
0:01:44 > 0:01:47examine it as never before.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53'We follow 40 volunteers on a ground-breaking study to find out
0:01:53 > 0:01:56'exactly how much meat is good for us.'
0:01:56 > 0:01:59You're probably cutting out about that much saturated fat
0:01:59 > 0:02:01from your diet every week.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05'We reveal an unlikely lean supermeat that won't break the bank.'
0:02:05 > 0:02:08I would never have put that in my mouth if I knew what it was.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Would you not? No.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12'We discover a way to dramatically reduce the health risks
0:02:12 > 0:02:16'associated with processed meats.'
0:02:16 > 0:02:18This is this extract which prevents the formation
0:02:18 > 0:02:20of the cancer-causing compounds.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27'We test whether paying more for chicken makes it any better for us.'
0:02:27 > 0:02:30You're telling me that there is little difference between
0:02:30 > 0:02:33an organic chicken that's coming in at ?6.50 a kilo
0:02:33 > 0:02:35and a bog-standard supermarket chicken?
0:02:35 > 0:02:38ROOSTER CROWS
0:02:38 > 0:02:40'And I come under close examination...
0:02:40 > 0:02:42Bottoms up.
0:02:42 > 0:02:48'..to find out how our gut bacteria could improve our heart's health.'
0:02:48 > 0:02:50This is what's going on inside my body right now.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52It's quite a weird feeling.
0:02:53 > 0:02:59'Fresh or processed, red or white, how does meat measure up?'
0:02:59 > 0:03:02It's a real nutrient powerhouse, isn't it?
0:03:03 > 0:03:06I want to be able to enjoy eating meat without having to worry.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09I want to separate the fact from the fiction,
0:03:09 > 0:03:11the science from the scare stories.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14I want to find out the truth about meat.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26'The first thing I want to know is,
0:03:26 > 0:03:28'what are the benefits to eating meat?
0:03:28 > 0:03:31'How much good does it do us?'
0:03:31 > 0:03:34I eat meat because I enjoy it, but like many of us, I suspect,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36I've never really thought about what I get from it.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39What does meat do for us nutritionally?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43'I've teamed up with nutritionist Sue Baic to find out.'
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Hello, Sue. Hi, Chris.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49Right, how much spinach am I putting in here?
0:03:49 > 0:03:51A good handful.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Meat contains a lot of different nutrients,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56so I thought it'd be interesting to actually see what other foods match
0:03:56 > 0:03:58the nutrients that are in meat.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02'We've taken over a sushi bar to set up a guessing game.'
0:04:03 > 0:04:08What I want you to do is to pick the dishes you think match the nutrients
0:04:08 > 0:04:10found in this steak.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13'The volunteers have 20 different dishes to select from.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17'They must guess which foods and how much of them equates to the
0:04:17 > 0:04:20'nutritional value of this one eight-ounce steak.'
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Eggs, definitely. That's an emphatic start, isn't it?
0:04:26 > 0:04:31'All these foods are good sources of a range of vitamins and minerals.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34'Our contestants can choose whatever combination they like.'
0:04:34 > 0:04:38I sell fruit and veg, so I know a little bit about food and nutrition,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41but I'm going to be honest - I don't know how many or what variety of
0:04:41 > 0:04:46dishes you'd need to choose to match the nutrients found in the steak.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47But I'm quite intrigued to find out.
0:04:47 > 0:04:49Cornflakes have iron in them.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52It's not as easy as it looks, is it? It is not easy.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54We'll have the spinach. Spinach.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57One spinach, sir. Think I'm going to pick these prawns,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59because of the protein that's in them.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01I don't think it's popcorn. I think put the nuts back.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03But the nuts have got the fat in it.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Nuts, definitely. It's the best sort of protein.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Cheese. Yeah? Don't need that bit, but I'll just take it anyway.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10So you've got brazil nuts and peanut butter.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14I have. Boiled eggs, spinach, cheese and some baked beans.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Yep. Finished? Yep. You sure? Yes.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Final answer? Final answer. Yeah.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24'Time to see if they've chosen wisely.'
0:05:24 > 0:05:25Sue, how did they do?
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Yep, you've got three sources of protein there,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31so the nuts have got protein in, the soy mince has got protein in,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33and the eggs.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36But you'd need seven and a half eggs to get the same amount
0:05:36 > 0:05:38of protein that's in that.
0:05:39 > 0:05:43You also mentioned the iron, and you had spinach for iron, didn't you?
0:05:43 > 0:05:47Yeah. The iron in spinach is not as easily absorbed as the iron
0:05:47 > 0:05:50from meat, so we need to add some vitamin C,
0:05:50 > 0:05:55so something like orange juice or an orange or berries to the plant foods
0:05:55 > 0:05:57to make the iron easily absorbed.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05'In fact, to match all the nutrients present in this steak,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08'you'd have to gather quite a buffet.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10'And in these quantities.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14'Around a kilo of prawns to get all the zinc -
0:06:14 > 0:06:16'good for energy and growth.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19'Some brazil nuts to match the selenium,
0:06:19 > 0:06:21'for a healthy immune system.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24'Two to three bananas to get the potassium.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28'An egg to match the vitamin D.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30'And to get the iron you need for red blood cells,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33'you would have to eat a whole bag's worth of spinach.'
0:06:35 > 0:06:37There's a lot of stuff up there... Yeah.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39..to get all you get in one steak.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42That's pretty poor. There's an awful lot of stuff in the steak.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45He'd rather have a steak. I'd rather have a steak. Yeah.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47LAUGHTER
0:06:49 > 0:06:51I thought you'd need a few of the dishes,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54but I didn't think you'd need that array, and in some cases quantities
0:06:54 > 0:06:56to get the nutrients that you find in a steak.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58Meat's very nutrient-dense,
0:06:58 > 0:07:02so it can be quite hard to replace the nutrients unless you think quite
0:07:02 > 0:07:04carefully about how you're going to do it,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06and it's not as simple as just cutting the meat out and having the
0:07:06 > 0:07:08potatoes and the vegetables,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11you actually think, "What am I going to have as the centre of my meal instead?"
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Is there one thing that's quite difficult to replace?
0:07:13 > 0:07:16Well, I'd say that the iron in meat is particularly difficult,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19because it's a very well-absorbed source of iron,
0:07:19 > 0:07:24and in the UK about 20% of women have got low intakes of iron,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27so from that point of view, red meat's quite useful.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29It's a real nutrient powerhouse, isn't it?
0:07:29 > 0:07:31It is.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37'So, eating red meat like steak clearly has plenty of benefits
0:07:37 > 0:07:39'for our health,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42but do the positive effects outweigh the negative?
0:07:45 > 0:07:46'I want to look at the good,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49'the bad and the ugly of many different types of meat...
0:07:51 > 0:07:55'and next I'm going to confront the less appetising side
0:07:55 > 0:07:58'of processed meat, because it's been grabbing a lot of headlines.'
0:08:02 > 0:08:03Take a look at some of these.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08"Processed meats do cause cancer" - World Health Organization.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12"Health chiefs put processed meat at the same level as cigarettes."
0:08:12 > 0:08:16"Sausages as bad for you as smoking."
0:08:16 > 0:08:18"Processed meats linked to cancer."
0:08:18 > 0:08:21I mean, these are seriously scary headlines.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26'After reviewing more than 800 studies,
0:08:26 > 0:08:30'the World Health Organization has declared that processed meat is a
0:08:30 > 0:08:32'definite cause of bowel cancer.
0:08:35 > 0:08:40'Around 16,000 people die of bowel cancer in the UK each year.'
0:08:41 > 0:08:44When I saw these headlines, it really made me think twice,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46and I'm not the only one.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49What I want to know is how scared should we actually be
0:08:49 > 0:08:53of processed meat, and should we be considering ditching it altogether?
0:09:01 > 0:09:04'I'm in Borough Market in London.'
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Oh, lovely.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09'It's a meat lover's heaven here and enough to make you want to
0:09:09 > 0:09:11'forget those headlines.'
0:09:11 > 0:09:14I want to get to the bottom of exactly what is processed meat
0:09:14 > 0:09:16and why it's so bad for us.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20Hello.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22'I've come for a butchery lesson.'
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Nice to meet you. And you, and you.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27'Hugo Jeffries is a specialist butcher and charcutier.'
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Ever seen half a pig before? Uh...
0:09:30 > 0:09:32No, I don't think I have, actually.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Welcome. This is it.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38'Hugo is going to take me back to the basics of meat processing.
0:09:38 > 0:09:43'One pig, one butcher, lots of knives and a few extra ingredients.'
0:09:45 > 0:09:48One of the things I want to find out is what makes this
0:09:48 > 0:09:51lovely-looking pig into processed meat?
0:09:51 > 0:09:53Because it's not processed in this format, is it?
0:09:53 > 0:09:56No, this is very much in its rawest form.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59What makes it processed is when it's had something added to it,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02be it flavour, salt, sugar, preservative.
0:10:02 > 0:10:06'Before we get to the processing part, we've got to chop it up.'
0:10:06 > 0:10:09So the first thing we're going to do is separate our half carcass into
0:10:09 > 0:10:13three more manageable pieces.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17It should just crack open.
0:10:17 > 0:10:18Pull it through.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20Blimey!
0:10:20 > 0:10:24You butchers make us greengrocers look like wimps, don't you?
0:10:27 > 0:10:29Whoa. That's it.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32Whew. Right. It's like a workout, this.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34You can do the rest now. No, I'm kidding.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36Yeah, you've got another 100. LAUGHTER
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Yeah, you can see it's going to be a bit difficult...
0:10:39 > 0:10:41'We make processed meats from most animals,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44'but we do get many of our favourites from the pig.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47'Ham, sausages, salamis,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50'and the breakfast staple we're going to make today.'
0:10:51 > 0:10:52That's bacon. Yes.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Should be familiar to everybody. Very, very recognisable, yep.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Absolutely. Lots of fat as well, lots of flavour.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02'Processed meat is basically meat that has been modified in some way
0:11:02 > 0:11:06'to make it last longer or change its taste.'
0:11:06 > 0:11:09We need to go and grab our salt, sugar and nitrite.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12'We're processing this bacon by curing it -
0:11:12 > 0:11:15'adding a mixture of preservatives to extend its shelf life.'
0:11:17 > 0:11:19The nitrite, why do we use that?
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Safety reasons. It's the only known preventative of the spores of
0:11:23 > 0:11:26clostridium botulinum, which can be toxic to human beings.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31'The preservative sodium nitrite is an effective way
0:11:31 > 0:11:33'to kill the bacteria that can lead to botulism,
0:11:33 > 0:11:35'a deadly form of food poisoning.
0:11:38 > 0:11:41'But it's also the ingredient at the centre of the health warnings about
0:11:41 > 0:11:42'processed meats.'
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Now, we're simply going to transfer that onto here.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50So whack it all on and give it a good rub.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54That's right, chuck it all on.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58'Processed meats have now become the UK's favourite choice of meat.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02Give it a good massage. Massage it in. Yeah. That's it.
0:12:02 > 0:12:07'We are eating over 30% more now than we did in the 1970s.'
0:12:07 > 0:12:10After a couple of weeks it turns into the bacon we've got over here.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12That looks great.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15That noise and that smell, I mean, that's fantastic, isn't it?
0:12:15 > 0:12:16Keeps me going.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19You can see why vegetarians fail when it comes to bacon.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23Yeah. It's the one thing, isn't it? It's the Achilles heel.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25Absolutely.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28There we have it. OK. Using fingers? Yeah, yeah, why not?
0:12:28 > 0:12:29Good stuff.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33That smells tremendous.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35'Despite the nitrite,
0:12:35 > 0:12:38'processed meats like bacon do still have nutritional value.'
0:12:38 > 0:12:40It's a world apart.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43'They contain the same nutrients as fresh meat.'
0:12:43 > 0:12:45Wow. That's brilliant.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Thank you very much. Just for that, you can have the last piece. CHRIS LAUGHS
0:12:53 > 0:12:56'I want to understand just why this preservative,
0:12:56 > 0:12:59'the sodium nitrite, is a problem when it comes to all my favourite
0:12:59 > 0:13:01'processed meats.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10'Professor Gunter Kuhnle is a food scientist at Reading University.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15'I'm hoping he'll explain to me why nitrite is harmful,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18'and if there's anything we can do about it.'
0:13:20 > 0:13:24OK, Gunter, I've heard so much about nitrites and nitrates,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26but what's the problem with them?
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Well, the problem is that nitrites have a role in our food.
0:13:29 > 0:13:30They're there to preserve,
0:13:30 > 0:13:32they're there to make sure that food is safe to eat.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36The problem is that nitrite doesn't only protect us
0:13:36 > 0:13:40from spoilage in meat, but it also increases the risk for cancer.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44OK, so it's quite ironic, then, isn't it, that they're in our food
0:13:44 > 0:13:46to protect us... Yes. ..from the food going off
0:13:46 > 0:13:50and the bacteria that may occur in food naturally... Yes, yes.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53..but yet they're harmful to us as well? Exactly.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56They can react with our stomach acid and all the things you find
0:13:56 > 0:13:59in meat to form compounds which are cancer-causing.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03'As we digest these processed foods,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07'the nitrite in the meat combines with the acid in our stomachs
0:14:07 > 0:14:09'to create chemical compounds.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14'It's these compounds which can be cancer-forming.
0:14:16 > 0:14:20'This liquid should change colour in the presence of nitrite.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24'Pure concentrated nitrite makes it turn vivid pink.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31'When we add a whole range of processed meats -
0:14:31 > 0:14:38'ham, sausage, chorizo, bacon, corned beef - to the same liquid,
0:14:38 > 0:14:42'the pink telltale signs of the presence of nitrite is revealed.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48'It's an unnerving sight as research has shown
0:14:48 > 0:14:51'that eating processed meats like these every day
0:14:51 > 0:14:53'increases your risk of bowel cancer by 18%.'
0:14:56 > 0:14:59So, please dress up. Yeah, OK.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04'But there might be some good news...'
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Come in. '..and Gunter's going to show me.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11'Along with his colleague Dr Cheng,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13'Gunter is trialling a formula which can combat
0:15:13 > 0:15:15'the negative effects of the nitrite.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20'They're trying it out on a nitrite-light sausage.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26'Into a traditional sausage mix, they add the special concoction.'
0:15:27 > 0:15:29So this is the secret ingredient, is it?
0:15:29 > 0:15:32This is the extract which allows us to reduce the amount of nitrite in
0:15:32 > 0:15:36them which prevents the formation of the cancer-causing compounds.
0:15:36 > 0:15:37Right, OK, so this is very important, then?
0:15:37 > 0:15:40This is very important and this is really the result of
0:15:40 > 0:15:42several years of research. Wow.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45The main part in there is a green tea extract,
0:15:45 > 0:15:49but there are other extracts, plant extracts in there.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54'Gunter's secret mixture means he can cut the amount of nitrite
0:15:54 > 0:15:56'he uses in his sausages by half.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59'And in studies,
0:15:59 > 0:16:03'this has also had a dramatic effect on the levels of cancer-causing
0:16:03 > 0:16:05'compound in the gut.'
0:16:05 > 0:16:08We found that people eating these sausages,
0:16:08 > 0:16:10the amount of these compounds formed was much,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13much lower than if they ate a sausage which was produced
0:16:13 > 0:16:15based on normal recipes.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21You just use your hand to control the release and here can go explode.
0:16:21 > 0:16:23Right. OK, well, we don't want that, do we?
0:16:23 > 0:16:28Not too tight, not too loose. I'm a bit nervous about this.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31'Gunter is two years into the trial and is hoping
0:16:31 > 0:16:33'to have a commercial version of his formula ready
0:16:33 > 0:16:35'in the not too distant future.'
0:16:37 > 0:16:39We have tested it on hams,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43we have tested it on different types of sausages, but it could be
0:16:43 > 0:16:45implemented in all kinds of different meat products.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47So I suppose the only thing left to do is
0:16:47 > 0:16:52to cook them and eat them and... Yes. ..actually see if people can taste the difference.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Yes, of course, taste is very important,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56because we want to get the consumer to actually like
0:16:56 > 0:16:58this kind of meat product and eat it.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06'I'm up in the students' union for my taste test.'
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Excuse me, chaps. Do you mind if I interrupt your game for a moment?
0:17:10 > 0:17:13'I reckon some free sausages should go down quite well here.'
0:17:13 > 0:17:16We've got a couple of sausages, would you like to try them
0:17:16 > 0:17:19and tell me what you think of them? Is that all right?
0:17:21 > 0:17:25'The reduced nitrite sausages are on plate number 1,
0:17:25 > 0:17:28'the others are normal sausages.'
0:17:28 > 0:17:30And if you could try the second plate for me, that'd be great.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35I think this one is more tasty.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38The second one was slightly more tasty? Maybe more spice...
0:17:38 > 0:17:41I don't know what's inside, but it's more tasty.
0:17:41 > 0:17:47Both. Both, guys? Both. Both are quite nice, yeah. That one's a bit nicer. OK.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50It doesn't have as much flavour? The second one didn't have as much flavour? Yeah.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52That's interesting. So, so far, actually, very positive.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Good evening, ladies.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56That ones' more exciting. The first one's more exciting?
0:17:56 > 0:17:58In what way? Um...
0:17:58 > 0:18:00More depth of flavour.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05Well, a success for Gunter's nitrite-light sausages -
0:18:05 > 0:18:08they got the thumbs up on taste and they're better for us.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10It's just a shame we can't buy them yet,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13but hopefully they or an equivalent will be available soon.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20'For now, though, if we want to keep eating processed meats,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22'just how risky are they to our health?'
0:18:25 > 0:18:29I find the figure that eating just 50g of processed meat every day can
0:18:29 > 0:18:33increase your risk of bowel cancer by 18% really quite sobering.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38So I did a little bit of digging to try and make sense of what that risk
0:18:38 > 0:18:42actually means, and risk analysts have made a calculation that really
0:18:42 > 0:18:46brings it home, and that's by comparing bacon with smoking.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51They say that eating one bacon roll with two rashers of bacon
0:18:51 > 0:18:56can shorten your life expectancy by the same as smoking four cigarettes.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59So, is processed meat worth the risk?
0:18:59 > 0:19:03I must admit, I think I'd struggle to cut bacon out of my diet completely,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05but maybe we should look at it as more of a treat than part
0:19:05 > 0:19:09of our daily diet. And if you do eat processed meat every day,
0:19:09 > 0:19:11be aware that it comes with a risk.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17'These figures are based on studies of large numbers of people in their
0:19:17 > 0:19:21'long-term processed meat-eating, or smoking habits.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28'No-one is saying that eating processed meat is as bad as regular smoking.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32'Processed meat causes less than 3% of the total of all cancers,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35'while tobacco causes more than 25%.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41'So what about the cancer risks of unprocessed meat?
0:19:42 > 0:19:44'No processing, so no nitrite.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48'Does that mean we're safe to tuck into fresh red meat?
0:19:50 > 0:19:54'The bad news is, although the WHO report doesn't put it in the same
0:19:54 > 0:19:56'category as processed meat,
0:19:56 > 0:20:00'it still believes red meat is probably cancer-causing.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05'And how you cook it could be part of the problem
0:20:05 > 0:20:07'and part of the solution.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16'When the sun comes out, nothing quite beats a good barbie.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22'But I want to find out how this style of cooking affects the meat...
0:20:24 > 0:20:26'so we've set up a barbecue challenge in the park.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31'Today's alfresco cooks, the Wellburn family,
0:20:31 > 0:20:32'have been split into teams.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38'It's the men - Bill and his son-in-law Sebastian -
0:20:38 > 0:20:41'versus the women - Catherine and her daughter Julie.'
0:20:44 > 0:20:48Right, OK, guys, I've split you into two teams and I'm going to set you a
0:20:48 > 0:20:51simple challenge of cooking me the perfect steak.
0:20:51 > 0:20:52You've got ten minutes to do it.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54Off we go. Game on.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Do you do much barbecuing? Now and again, you know. Yeah? Yeah.
0:21:03 > 0:21:04Yes, looking good.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06Oh, that looks fantastic.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11What I haven't told them,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14the winning team won't be the one that's cooked the tastiest steaks,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16it'll be the one that's cooked the safest steaks.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21'I've asked a chemist rather than a food critic
0:21:21 > 0:21:24'to come along and help me judge these steaks.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27'Martin Rose is an expert in food contaminants
0:21:27 > 0:21:29and how to cook meat safely.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Right, how have we got on?
0:21:33 > 0:21:36All done? Yep. Perfect.
0:21:36 > 0:21:37All done? Fantastic.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Well, look, these look good enough to eat,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42but unfortunately we're not going to be eating them.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44Martin, what are we going to be doing with them?
0:21:44 > 0:21:46We're going to do some chemical analysis on these
0:21:46 > 0:21:48to see just how safe they are.
0:21:50 > 0:21:53'We've set up a mobile lab to analyse our steaks.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57'What we are looking for are chemicals called PAHs.'
0:21:59 > 0:22:03PAH is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06It's a class of chemical and it's formed in smoke.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08It's present in soot,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11and we found out about these first of all in the 1700s
0:22:11 > 0:22:15when chimney sweeps were getting an increased case of cancer.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21'Barbecues provide the perfect conditions for these chemicals to form.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24'First, high temperatures.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27'The chemicals form as the food chars.
0:22:27 > 0:22:35'Second, fat dripping onto the embers burns and produces more of them.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37'And third, smoke,
0:22:37 > 0:22:41'which is full of PAHs and plasters them all over the food.
0:22:43 > 0:22:47'In our park lab, we can extract the PAHs from the two steaks.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52'When put under UV light, the extracts became fluorescent.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56'The brighter the tube, the higher the level of chemicals.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01'There's very little difference between these two steaks -
0:23:01 > 0:23:05'both clearly have PAHs in them, and this isn't good for our bodies.'
0:23:07 > 0:23:10How do other cooking methods stack up, cos you can burn food
0:23:10 > 0:23:12in any cooking method, can't you?
0:23:12 > 0:23:14I know I can.
0:23:14 > 0:23:16Any cooking method where you burn the food and you can see
0:23:16 > 0:23:18the bits of soot, the bits of carbon,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20you're likely to have some PAHs there.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Barbecues, there's a lot of smoke, you've got flame,
0:23:23 > 0:23:28it's a lot less controlled, you're a lot more likely to get PAHs formed.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33'So it's particularly barbecuing that seems to have a problem with PAHs,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36'but there might be something we can do about it.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38'Time for round two.'
0:23:38 > 0:23:40We've got two options here.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43So we've got a marinade, so you can marinate the steaks before cooking,
0:23:43 > 0:23:45or we've got wood chips,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48so you can use wood chips as opposed to the charcoal, OK?
0:23:48 > 0:23:51So I want you to go and cook me two more steaks,
0:23:51 > 0:23:54and then we'll see whose is the safest.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Yeah? Yeah, OK. Off you go.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03'This is my kind of marinade - it's made of beer.'
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I think there would be like a shield on the top of the meat.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11OK, so you think because it's being coated with something that that will
0:24:11 > 0:24:13protect it maybe from the smoke and the flame...
0:24:13 > 0:24:17Yeah. ..and make this a safer steak? Yes.
0:24:17 > 0:24:19'So, what about the wood chips?'
0:24:19 > 0:24:23It's still generating smoke, isn't it, so it'll be interesting to see,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26actually, if the amount of PAHs found in it are lessened.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28Well, it'll be interesting to see.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32'Back to the lab...' There you go.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35..to measure the PAH levels of the second set of steaks.
0:24:39 > 0:24:40Right. So,
0:24:40 > 0:24:45we've got the results of the new, safer steaks you cooked for us,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48and whilst we saw on the steak that you cooked with the wood chips lower
0:24:48 > 0:24:50levels of PAH,
0:24:50 > 0:24:55the outright winner was the steak that was cooked in a marinade.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Ah-ha. Wasn't expecting that at all.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03'The beer marinade has noticeably reduced the chemicals in the meat.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05'The brightness is much lower.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10'And when compared with one of the first two steaks we cooked,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13'the difference is even more obvious.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18'The marinade has reduced the level of PAHs by more than a half.'
0:25:19 > 0:25:23We'll have to think about our new way to cook meat on the barbecue now.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26It's easy enough, it gives extra flavour, a marinade.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31'So, dos and don'ts for barbecuing.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33'Don't char the meat too much.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35'Smoke and flames are bad.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40'Do use a marinade - it protects the meat from the smoke,
0:25:40 > 0:25:42'and beer works really well.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45'Wood chips soak up the fat,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48'but ideally use a gas barbecue and control the temperature.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54'With these simple steps, you can barbecue with confidence.'
0:26:02 > 0:26:05'There are other ways to be really safe and confident about the way you
0:26:05 > 0:26:07'cook your meat.'
0:26:07 > 0:26:10It's common knowledge that meat has to be cooked properly to be safe,
0:26:10 > 0:26:14and that's because meat can be contaminated with harmful bacteria,
0:26:14 > 0:26:16but the heat of cooking kills them.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20So why is it OK to eat a rare steak but not to eat a rare burger?
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Well, that's down to where the bacteria hang out.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25They're generally on the outside of the meat,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28so the searing of the steak kills the bacteria and the inside is
0:26:28 > 0:26:30absolutely fine, but with a burger,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34what's happened is it's been minced together prior to cooking,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37so the bacteria could be mixed throughout the whole burger,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39so the advice is, when you're cooking a burger at home on the barbecue or
0:26:39 > 0:26:42whatever, make sure you cook it really thoroughly.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54'Even if you cook it right, there is still a crucial question -
0:26:54 > 0:26:58'just how much red and processed meat should we be eating?'
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Can I have a full breakfast, please?
0:27:01 > 0:27:05'The UK government currently recommends we eat no more than
0:27:05 > 0:27:09'70g a day of either processed meat or fresh red meat
0:27:09 > 0:27:12'like beef, lamb and pork.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15'This is based on giving us the maximum nutritional benefit
0:27:15 > 0:27:19'while limiting the risk of bowel cancer.'
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Full breakfast, beans and tomatoes.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25'Interestingly, there's no limit on white meat like chicken.'
0:27:25 > 0:27:28Here, m'love. Oh, thank you very much.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33I've got no idea what any portion of meat actually weighs...
0:27:33 > 0:27:35So that's what I'm going to test.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38'So, just how much meat do I have here
0:27:38 > 0:27:41'in my pretty standard cooked breakfast?'
0:27:41 > 0:27:44So that's one rasher of bacon, that's 30g.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47So two of those and you're very nearly at your limit already.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50Let's have a look at the sausage.
0:27:50 > 0:27:5148g.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53One sausage is 48g,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57so you can see how you can very quickly get up to that limit.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03'On this plate, I have 159g of processed meat.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08'That's more than double my 70g daily allowance,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10'and I'm only just out of bed.'
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Before weighing out a lot of those meats,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16I would've said that I wasn't eating a huge amount, but actually,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18looking at that, it's quite surprised me.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Knowing you could have over double the limit in one meal.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Maybe I'm eating more than I thought.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27'And I'm not alone. Here in the UK,
0:28:27 > 0:28:31'four in ten men and one in ten women eat not just 70g,
0:28:31 > 0:28:34'but more than 90g per day.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46'The guidelines about how much red and processed meat we eat
0:28:46 > 0:28:48'are based on weighing up the risk of bowel cancer
0:28:48 > 0:28:51'versus all the benefits meat brings us.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54'But there's another important reason to be aware
0:28:54 > 0:28:57'of how much of these types of meat we're eating -
0:28:57 > 0:29:00'they've also been linked to heart disease.'
0:29:00 > 0:29:03But what is it about meat that can cause heart problems,
0:29:03 > 0:29:05and will reducing the amount we eat help?
0:29:07 > 0:29:11'That's exactly what they're testing in a major new experiment here at
0:29:11 > 0:29:14'Nottingham University.
0:29:15 > 0:29:20'40 volunteers have signed up to a three-month project
0:29:20 > 0:29:25'to see whether cutting down on meat reduces their risk of heart disease.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28'Taking part involves being an enthusiastic carnivore,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30'eating meat at least five times a week.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36What is it you love about eating meat? Barbecuing especially,
0:29:36 > 0:29:38I love the texture, I love the flavour.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40You can't replace a big juicy steak.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42I have meat pretty much twice a day.
0:29:45 > 0:29:46'For the study,
0:29:46 > 0:29:51'they are reducing their red and processed meat intake by half.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55'It's meant some tough choices about what to do without.'
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Things like mince, there are some really good substitutes out there,
0:29:58 > 0:30:00but things like bacon - nothing.
0:30:00 > 0:30:03Nothing compares to bacon, yeah.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08'The volunteers are already partway through the 12-week study.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11'They've been asked to keep food diaries,
0:30:11 > 0:30:13'both before and throughout the experiment.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18'We're showing them just how much meat they were eating
0:30:18 > 0:30:20'before they started to cut down.'
0:30:22 > 0:30:25What do you think when you see this all laid out like this now?
0:30:25 > 0:30:28I'm hungry. You're hungry? LAUGHTER
0:30:28 > 0:30:29Missing meat. Yeah.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36'John was eating a whopping 1.3 kilos of meat over four days.
0:30:36 > 0:30:41'Almost five times the Government's recommended limit.'
0:30:41 > 0:30:44So now you've started to reduce your meat consumption,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47could you go back to eating this amount of meat?
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Absolutely, yeah.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54I love it and it's...
0:30:54 > 0:30:59Looking at it makes me want... I'm struggling quite a lot. LAUGHTER
0:30:59 > 0:31:02I thought there'd be shock and horror, not whetting your appetite.
0:31:02 > 0:31:06'Adam was getting through just over a kilo of meat in four days.'
0:31:06 > 0:31:10How does it look? Could be worse, apart from one day of gluttony.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13What happened there? It was probably on offer or...
0:31:13 > 0:31:15I don't know, I don't know, maybe I had a...
0:31:15 > 0:31:17Your date didn't turn up. Yeah.
0:31:17 > 0:31:23'Vince's pork-heavy diet, still a red meat, took his intake up to a kilo.'
0:31:23 > 0:31:26What have you missed most? I love my sort of pork belly and crackling and
0:31:26 > 0:31:30stuff like that. So that's probably the thing I've missed the most.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34'The link between red meat and heart disease is well known,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36'but not the effects of cutting down.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42'The study is being run by Professor Andy Salter.'
0:31:42 > 0:31:46So what is it about eating meat that could cause heart disease?
0:31:46 > 0:31:50There's a variety of suggestions around.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Almost certainly the major one is the amount of fat in it and the type
0:31:53 > 0:31:56of fat which is associated with it, particularly with red meat.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00It is relatively rich in saturated fat, which we know potentially can
0:32:00 > 0:32:02put the level of cholesterol up in your blood, and that's
0:32:02 > 0:32:04probably the major factor.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07A high saturated fat diet increases your cholesterol,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09and having a high cholesterol increases your risk of heart disease.
0:32:09 > 0:32:11So how many different types of fat
0:32:11 > 0:32:15would you find in this steak, for example? OK, so this piece of steak
0:32:15 > 0:32:18will contain the three main classes of fat in different proportions.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20So for a piece of steak like that,
0:32:20 > 0:32:23it would contain about this much of the saturated fat,
0:32:23 > 0:32:25which as you can see is solid at room temperature,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28and this is the thing that will raise your cholesterol,
0:32:28 > 0:32:31but it'll contain about an equal amount of what we call
0:32:31 > 0:32:33monounsaturated fat,
0:32:33 > 0:32:35and that's potentially relatively healthy for you -
0:32:35 > 0:32:38we get it in olive oil and rapeseed oil and things like that -
0:32:38 > 0:32:40but there's a reasonable amount in there.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43What there's much less of in a piece of steak like this is the
0:32:43 > 0:32:46polyunsaturated fat, such as this - this is sunflower oil,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49but that's about how much polyunsaturated fat you get
0:32:49 > 0:32:52in a piece of steak like that, so it's not a lot, but this is the really healthy fat,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55this is the one that actually fights against the saturated fat and tries
0:32:55 > 0:32:57to bring your cholesterol down again.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Right, OK. So this one is bringing your cholesterol up...
0:33:00 > 0:33:03Yep. ..this is the saturated fat,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07and then the polyunsaturated fat is actually trying to reverse
0:33:07 > 0:33:09the effect of that?
0:33:09 > 0:33:12But unfortunately this is probably twice as potent at increasing
0:33:12 > 0:33:14your cholesterol as that one is at decreasing it,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17so you have to eat twice as much of that to counteract it.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20And there's a downside... Not a lot in there anyway,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23so it's all stacked against you.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28'Andy has deliberately set achievable targets for the group.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31'It's up to them how they halve their red meat intake each week.
0:33:33 > 0:33:35'He wants to see if these moderate diet changes
0:33:35 > 0:33:37'have a significant effect.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43'The volunteers are having blood tests taken throughout
0:33:43 > 0:33:46'the experiment to measure any change in cholesterol levels.'
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Do you think it's going to show you what you're hoping for?
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Well, despite having a long career in science and some knockbacks,
0:33:53 > 0:33:57we're always optimistic, so we really hope so.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59I have every reason to believe there will be some change,
0:33:59 > 0:34:02how big it is, we'll have to wait and see, but I'm optimistic.
0:34:02 > 0:34:08Brilliant, well, I for one am certainly looking forward to the results, so thank you very much. OK.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12'We'll find out later in the programme how the volunteers get on,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16'and what eating less meat means for their health and their hearts.
0:34:20 > 0:34:26'The very latest suggests that it may not be only the saturated fat
0:34:26 > 0:34:29'in meat that can cause heart problems.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32'Scientists have just discovered a mysterious substance linked to
0:34:32 > 0:34:36'heart disease in the guts of meat eaters.'
0:34:36 > 0:34:40I'm offering up my body to science to find out what exactly goes on
0:34:40 > 0:34:42inside me when I eat red meat.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47'I've come to a hospital in Leicester where some ground-breaking
0:34:47 > 0:34:50'discoveries have been taking place.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53'Cardiologist, Professor Toru Suzuki,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56'has studied 1,000 heart disease patients,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00'and he found that the most serious cases had high levels of a substance
0:35:00 > 0:35:02'that can only come from meat.'
0:35:04 > 0:35:08So we looked at patients who have acute heart failure and in these
0:35:08 > 0:35:12patients we find that patients that had higher levels of this substance
0:35:12 > 0:35:15have poorer outcomes later on.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20'He's going to demonstrate where the problem lies using my body.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23'It starts with treating me to a meaty breakfast.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25Hi, Chris. Oh, wow. Breakfast.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28So why did you choose steak, Professor, for me to have?
0:35:28 > 0:35:30Well, we'd like to choose red meat -
0:35:30 > 0:35:34a lot of muscle content and so I think this would be ideal for the
0:35:34 > 0:35:37conditions that we would like to see.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41'The substance he's looking for is created when the meat reaches the
0:35:41 > 0:35:46'gut. So next I've got to swallow something a little less digestible -
0:35:46 > 0:35:48'a tiny camera.'
0:35:48 > 0:35:51It goes inside your digestive tract and we take pictures
0:35:51 > 0:35:54along the way. Right, OK. And that's perfectly safe, is it?
0:35:54 > 0:35:57Yes, I hope so. CHRIS LAUGHS
0:35:57 > 0:35:59I've never used one of these.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01It looks like a pretty cool bit of kit.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03That just leaves the little detail of...
0:36:03 > 0:36:05eating this.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11Not quite as small as I would have hoped.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15Here we go. Bottoms up.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23I'm quite used to being filmed from the outside,
0:36:23 > 0:36:25but this is the first time I've been filmed from the inside.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28It's quite a weird feeling.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32This is actually what's going on inside my body right now
0:36:32 > 0:36:35in real time. That's...that's an incredible bit of kit.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39We can actually see particles of the food I've just eaten...
0:36:39 > 0:36:41Yes. ..inside the stomach.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43Yes, yes. So what's this dark area here?
0:36:43 > 0:36:46That's part of the steak that you had,
0:36:46 > 0:36:48starting being dissolved inside the stomach acid.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53'When meat is broken down by digestion,
0:36:53 > 0:36:57'certain types of bacteria in our gut produce the harmful substance.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01'It's known as TMAO.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05'It's believed to contribute to the hardening of the arteries.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08'With the professor's heart patients,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11'higher levels have been found in the most acute cases.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15For those people that have heart disease,
0:37:15 > 0:37:17I would recommend that we try to lower their levels.
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Reducing red meat intake would be a logical choice.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25'The professor has found that the gut bacteria of vegans
0:37:25 > 0:37:29'don't produce TMAO. It's only found in meat eaters.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33'So if you have a heart condition,
0:37:33 > 0:37:37'this study would strongly suggest you should cut down on red meat.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39'But how wary of TMAO
0:37:39 > 0:37:42'should the rest of us without heart disease be?'
0:37:42 > 0:37:44Knowing what you know,
0:37:44 > 0:37:47having studied this and having studied thousands of people...
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Sure. ..do you still eat red meat?
0:37:50 > 0:37:53Yes, I do. You do? Yes, I do. I find that very reassuring.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57And how often would you eat red meat? Two, three times a week.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02Really? Yes. If you're happy to eat red meat occasionally,
0:38:02 > 0:38:05then I think that's good enough for me.
0:38:05 > 0:38:07THEY LAUGH
0:38:09 > 0:38:11'There's food for thought here.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15'The research hasn't been done yet on whether TMAO
0:38:15 > 0:38:19'has a negative effect on the heart or arteries of a healthy person.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24'But whilst red meat scores well in terms of nutrients,
0:38:24 > 0:38:27'there are clearly health issues that need to be put in the balance, too.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38'Interestingly, a move away from red meat is the overall trend in the UK.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44'Over the last 50 years, the quantity of lamb we eat
0:38:44 > 0:38:46'has dropped by 60%.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51'Beef-eating has dropped by 25%.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55'But we are eating much more...
0:38:55 > 0:38:57ROOSTER CROWS
0:38:57 > 0:38:59'..chicken.
0:38:59 > 0:39:05'We consume a staggering 335% more chicken now
0:39:05 > 0:39:07'than we did 40 years ago.
0:39:07 > 0:39:09ROOSTER CROWS
0:39:12 > 0:39:16'We started to eat more chicken in the 1970s
0:39:16 > 0:39:19'when battery farming made it much more affordable.
0:39:19 > 0:39:24'It took off in popularity as a lean and healthy choice of meat.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28'We now eat 3.5 million birds a day.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32'There is a huge variety of different sorts of chicken now available.'
0:39:33 > 0:39:36From the cheaper standard ones to the more expensive ones,
0:39:36 > 0:39:39like organic, free-range or corn-fed.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43Obviously, the way they're reared impacts the welfare of the bird,
0:39:43 > 0:39:46but if we just look at it from a nutritional point of view,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48is it worth spending more money?
0:39:51 > 0:39:54'I've come to Stirling University to put chicken to the test.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02'Joining me is nutritionist Dr Laura Wyness,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05'who is going to help me get abreast of the facts.'
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Is it still the meat that we should be eating?
0:40:10 > 0:40:12Absolutely, I mean, chicken in general -
0:40:12 > 0:40:14chicken breast, chicken thigh -
0:40:14 > 0:40:18are low in fat and low in saturated fat, so it's a lean meat to have.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26'But there's a wide range of different types of chicken to select from.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29'So is all chicken equally healthy?
0:40:31 > 0:40:35'To answer that, scientists here at Stirling have tested the fat content
0:40:35 > 0:40:37'in five types of chicken.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41'A cheap supermarket chicken...
0:40:44 > 0:40:46'a corn-fed bird...
0:40:48 > 0:40:50'a free-range supermarket chicken...
0:40:52 > 0:40:55'a top-end organic supermarket chicken...
0:40:57 > 0:41:00'and finally a forage diet farm bird.'
0:41:03 > 0:41:05So, Laura, what did our tests show us?
0:41:05 > 0:41:09Well, surprisingly, there's not actually much difference between the
0:41:09 > 0:41:12different types of chicken in terms of total fat and saturated fat.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16You're telling me that there is little difference between, you know,
0:41:16 > 0:41:19an organic chicken that's coming in at ?6.50 a kilo...
0:41:19 > 0:41:23Yeah. ..and a bog-standard supermarket chicken
0:41:23 > 0:41:25that's cost ?2.55 a kilo.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28I mean, there's a huge difference in cost. If you are on a tight budget
0:41:28 > 0:41:31and just want to opt for the cheapest one,
0:41:31 > 0:41:35you're still getting very similar nutrition in terms of fat content
0:41:35 > 0:41:38when you go for the cheapest one as opposed to the most expensive one.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40And which one had the most fat?
0:41:40 > 0:41:44The chicken thigh from the corn-fed chicken actually had the most,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47with 4.9g per 100g of fat,
0:41:47 > 0:41:51and then the lowest in fat was the free-range chicken breast
0:41:51 > 0:41:53with 1.1g of fat per 100g.
0:41:56 > 0:42:01'From our small sample at least, in terms of low fat content,
0:42:01 > 0:42:03'there's not that much between them.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05'But the free-range just has the edge.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11'The next test was for fatty acids.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14'Omega-3, of course, is good for us,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17'but we should avoid too much omega-6,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21'so we have looked at the ratio between the two.'
0:42:21 > 0:42:24So in terms of the omega-3 to 6 ratio,
0:42:24 > 0:42:26how did these chickens compare?
0:42:26 > 0:42:28Well, quite surprisingly,
0:42:28 > 0:42:32the corn-fed chicken had less beneficial ratio
0:42:32 > 0:42:35compared to the free-range and the cheapest.
0:42:35 > 0:42:37They came out actually more beneficial in terms of the ratio
0:42:37 > 0:42:41of omega-6 to 3. So the corn-fed chicken isn't faring very well here,
0:42:41 > 0:42:46so it was higher in total fat and the ratio of omega-3 to 6 isn't as
0:42:46 > 0:42:50beneficial for us. So actually this is the least healthiest option here,
0:42:50 > 0:42:52is it? Ever so slightly, yeah.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58So we may associate the yellow corn-fed birds with being healthier,
0:42:58 > 0:43:02but in fact corn adds no nutritional value to the chicken -
0:43:02 > 0:43:04it is added for colour and flavour.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07I, like so many people,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10would have assumed the more you pay for something the better for you
0:43:10 > 0:43:13it is, but having seen those test results,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16if you're only looking at it from a health perspective,
0:43:16 > 0:43:19you can buy the cheaper chicken, safe in the knowledge
0:43:19 > 0:43:21that nutritionally it's pretty much the same
0:43:21 > 0:43:23as the more expensive ones.
0:43:24 > 0:43:28'Chicken is a lean and healthy choice, but for a low fat diet,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31'go for breast, not thigh, and lose the fatty skin.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36'If the welfare of the bird matters to you, as it does to me,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39'you can choose to pay a bit more,
0:43:39 > 0:43:42'but these results suggest you don't have to break the bank
0:43:42 > 0:43:44'to eat healthily.'
0:43:44 > 0:43:46ROOSTER CROWS
0:43:51 > 0:43:55'People have lots of reasons for choosing not to eat meat at all.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02'Many avoid it because of concerns around animal welfare...
0:44:03 > 0:44:07'..and the big moral difficulty of killing an animal to eat it.'
0:44:08 > 0:44:11We are a nation of animal-lovers,
0:44:11 > 0:44:13but yet we're also a nation of meat-eaters.
0:44:13 > 0:44:15It's quite a conflict.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20'Today's the day I've been slightly dreading.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24'I'm going to come face-to-face with the slaughter process.'
0:44:24 > 0:44:26My wife's a vegetarian,
0:44:26 > 0:44:29and she was horrified when I told her I was coming to an abattoir.
0:44:29 > 0:44:33I think she's secretly hoping this might convert me to a vegetarian.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35And do you know what?
0:44:35 > 0:44:37It could well do.
0:44:41 > 0:44:46'This abattoir in Somerset is one of 336 across the UK.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51'Two million animals are slaughtered every month in this country.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57'I'm going to be guided through the process today by Dr Phil Hadley,
0:44:57 > 0:45:00'an expert on livestock welfare.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03'I've never been inside an abattoir before,
0:45:03 > 0:45:07'and we are starting in the area where the animals wait to be killed.'
0:45:07 > 0:45:10OK, so this is the lairage, and the animals, on arrival,
0:45:10 > 0:45:13they're kept here until...
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Until the time that they move into the...to the stun box.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20This point's very important because here the official veterinarian,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24who's on-site, checks every animal to make sure that they're fit
0:45:24 > 0:45:29and healthy for slaughter, and also it gives the animals the opportunity
0:45:29 > 0:45:32to rest and settle back down, because what we don't want is
0:45:32 > 0:45:34any stressful situation for the animal, cos that has
0:45:34 > 0:45:37a negative effect on the meat quality.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40'Keeping the animals calm is a priority.
0:45:40 > 0:45:44'When they're fearful, animals release a distress chemical -
0:45:44 > 0:45:48'cortisol - and this affects the quality of their meat,
0:45:48 > 0:45:51'making it both tougher and look discoloured.'
0:45:53 > 0:45:56So if these animals aren't treated, you know,
0:45:56 > 0:45:59properly right up to the absolute final stages...
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Yeah. ..that not only has an effect on the qualities, but would have an
0:46:02 > 0:46:05effect on the value as well. Financial value as well, yeah, yeah.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Cos you'd end up with cuts, instead of going into a retail pack,
0:46:07 > 0:46:10you know, where you expect to see a bright red product,
0:46:10 > 0:46:11if you've got a dark product,
0:46:11 > 0:46:13it ends up going into processed products.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15A bit of that dark cutting, straight away,
0:46:15 > 0:46:18will wipe ?200 or ?300 off the value of the carcass.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24'I'm reluctantly going to watch as these two animals are killed.'
0:46:26 > 0:46:29So your ideal is that the first one walks through
0:46:29 > 0:46:32and the rest just follow in a streak. Yeah, yeah.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36'They are about to go through.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38'I'm a bit apprehensive about seeing this.'
0:46:39 > 0:46:42Now I'm going to go see the final stages.
0:46:42 > 0:46:44I'll see you on the other side.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55Well, I don't really know how I feel about that.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58I mean, it was very quick. It seems humane, you know,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00it's almost done in an instant, but...
0:47:00 > 0:47:04yeah, actually seeing it happen is quite strange, I must admit.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07I'm... I've got mixed emotions about it for the moment.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14'Within just minutes of being killed,
0:47:14 > 0:47:17'the cows are through to the butchery room.
0:47:17 > 0:47:22It's gone from being an animal to being meat in literally seconds,
0:47:22 > 0:47:24and now when you look at that, I mean...
0:47:24 > 0:47:28Although the process might be a bit gruesome, actually what you see now
0:47:28 > 0:47:31is not dissimilar to what you would see in a butcher's shop
0:47:31 > 0:47:35or, you know, cuts of meat that we recognise to eat.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40'To feed our demand for meat in the UK,
0:47:40 > 0:47:46'each year we slaughter 2.5 million cows, nearly 11 million pigs,
0:47:46 > 0:47:49'and almost 15 million sheep and lambs.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58'I'm kind of glad I've been here today.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00'It hasn't quite turned me vegetarian,
0:48:00 > 0:48:04'but I will certainly appreciate and value meat more now.'
0:48:04 > 0:48:07Having seen the animals arrive and then be killed
0:48:07 > 0:48:12and now being butchered, it only seems sort of fitting and respectful
0:48:12 > 0:48:15to the animal for us to utilise and use as much of it as possible.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23'An overlooked part of each animal which has fallen out of favour
0:48:23 > 0:48:25'in this country is the offal.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30'Surprisingly, offal can be one of the most
0:48:30 > 0:48:32'nutritious parts of the animal.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35'It was once a staple of the British diet.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39'Not now.
0:48:39 > 0:48:44'Consumption has dropped by a whopping 80% since the 1970s.'
0:48:45 > 0:48:48I'm wondering whether we can change our minds about eating
0:48:48 > 0:48:51parts of the animal that we've all but given up on in this country.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55I'd like to know whether offal meat could not only be good for us,
0:48:55 > 0:48:57but whether we can actually be convinced to eat it.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04'I'm in Edinburgh to meet one of Scotland's top chefs.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11'Dedicated offal champion Neil Forbes.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14'He has a treasure trove of offal meats to show me...'
0:49:14 > 0:49:17All right. Wow. What have we got here?
0:49:17 > 0:49:20'..starting with ox tongue.'
0:49:20 > 0:49:22What would you do if that was on your plate?
0:49:22 > 0:49:25How would you feel about that? Well, possibly not looking like that.
0:49:25 > 0:49:27I mean it doesn't look overly appetising, does it?
0:49:27 > 0:49:29It doesn't really, does it?
0:49:29 > 0:49:32The ox kidney, the lamb. They're two different types,
0:49:32 > 0:49:36but it's just got that lovely clean glossy, beautiful, I mean,
0:49:36 > 0:49:39really kind of beefy...
0:49:39 > 0:49:40Smell, smell, smell.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44The pig's trotter, classed as an offal, and is something
0:49:44 > 0:49:46which would be put in a stock pot.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48Is there one that's a real standout,
0:49:48 > 0:49:52nutritionally packed piece of meat?
0:49:53 > 0:49:55I'd be going for the lamb's liver, definitely.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Yeah? That, for me, is just a thing of beauty.
0:49:59 > 0:50:02Yeah. Look at the sheen and the gloss.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04It's got this lovely fresh aroma.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08Yeah. And there is little or no fat on that,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10but it's so full of goodness.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16'The most nutritious and lean offal tends to be the organs like heart,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19'kidneys and, best of all, liver.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24'It's high in protein and low in saturated fat,
0:50:24 > 0:50:26'and packed with vitamins and minerals.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33'And vitamins...
0:50:35 > 0:50:38'And when it comes to B12, needed by the nervous system,
0:50:38 > 0:50:43'there is 50 times more B12 in beef liver than there is in beef mince.'
0:50:46 > 0:50:49We're going maybe a little bit too pre-packed and a little bit
0:50:49 > 0:50:51too safe with a chop and a steak.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53Try something different, that's what I'm saying.
0:50:55 > 0:50:59'I'm persuaded, but can we convince the people of Edinburgh?
0:51:00 > 0:51:03'Neil is cooking up some offal delights
0:51:03 > 0:51:06'to test on an unsuspecting public.'
0:51:07 > 0:51:10A few knobs of butter, of course.
0:51:10 > 0:51:15'We have two dishes - brazed kidneys and sweetbreads,
0:51:15 > 0:51:17'the throat glands from a lamb.'
0:51:19 > 0:51:22So how do you think people are going to respond today?
0:51:22 > 0:51:24I don't know, I think we're going to get a mixed bag.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27I'm thinking perhaps a 50-50 split.
0:51:27 > 0:51:28Roll up, roll up.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32Who's up for a meaty treat? Sounds good, yeah. There you go, just chuck that on...
0:51:32 > 0:51:34'To stop people rejecting it just
0:51:34 > 0:51:37'because it's offal, this will be a blind test.'
0:51:37 > 0:51:39No peeking. Can I just check nothing's alive?
0:51:39 > 0:51:42Nothing is alive, we promise you. Don't worry.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45'We want to sell it to them on the taste alone.'
0:51:45 > 0:51:49It's like spicy kidney or something with thyme on it and mustard and...
0:51:49 > 0:51:52It tastes nice? Yeah, yeah.
0:51:52 > 0:51:54It tastes like elephant.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Elephant? Have you eaten elephant before?
0:51:56 > 0:52:00It kind of tastes like, smells like the zoo. Tastes and smells like the zoo.
0:52:00 > 0:52:02It's a spider. It's not a spider.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06Is it nice? Are you enjoying it? Yeah, not bad. And you, madam?
0:52:06 > 0:52:08Um...yeah, I could eat it.
0:52:08 > 0:52:09Yeah. Is it a nice flavour?
0:52:09 > 0:52:11Hmmm, not great.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14And mum? Not bad. I love these.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16There we go. What's your thoughts?
0:52:16 > 0:52:19It's quite tasty. You liked it? Mm-hmm.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23You've been eating sweetbreads. Oh, cool! Do you know what that is?
0:52:23 > 0:52:26Yes. You know sweetbreads? Oh, no! You enjoyed that.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30Is it some sort of testicle? No, it's... LAUGHTER
0:52:30 > 0:52:35Now, sweetbreads can be classified as testicle.
0:52:35 > 0:52:38You're lucky, these are not testicles.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41They're throat glands, aren't they? Yeah, these are from the thyroid glands. Oh!
0:52:41 > 0:52:44So you're absolutely fine. LAUGHTER
0:52:44 > 0:52:46Veal? It was in fact kidneys.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49I would never have put that in my mouth if I knew what it was.
0:52:49 > 0:52:52Would you not? No! Why not? Just because it's kidneys.
0:52:52 > 0:52:54But actually that's really tasty.
0:52:57 > 0:53:00'If the taste and health benefits of offal don't convince you,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03'then the price just might.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05'Cost per kilo,
0:53:05 > 0:53:08'offal cuts like liver and kidneys are less than a tenth
0:53:08 > 0:53:10'of the price of a supermarket steak.'
0:53:12 > 0:53:15For me, offal ticks all the boxes - it's full of flavour,
0:53:15 > 0:53:17you're utilising the whole animal,
0:53:17 > 0:53:21it's cost-effective and it is fantastic nutritionally.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24The majority of people that tried it either enjoyed it
0:53:24 > 0:53:27or at least weren't horrified at the prospect of eating it, so...
0:53:27 > 0:53:29maybe we should all be eating more of it.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38'I'm back at Nottingham University,
0:53:38 > 0:53:43'where the three-month Eat Less Meat experiment has come to an end.
0:53:43 > 0:53:46'The scientists here wanted to find out what effect
0:53:46 > 0:53:50'halving the consumption of red and processed meat has
0:53:50 > 0:53:51'on the risk of heart disease.'
0:53:51 > 0:53:53Nice to see you both again.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56'I've joined the volunteers to get the results.'
0:53:56 > 0:53:58And did you cheat? No.
0:53:58 > 0:53:59Not at all? I made sure I didn't cheat.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01Was it difficult all the way through or easy?
0:54:01 > 0:54:04Sorting out sort of menu ideas was difficult.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08My aim was just to cut it out so that when I did have
0:54:08 > 0:54:10a bacon sandwich or whatever on a Sunday,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12I knew that I was safe with it.
0:54:12 > 0:54:13After a while, like, it...
0:54:13 > 0:54:15it wasn't that bad, to be honest.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20'This study has been run by Professor Andy Salter.
0:54:21 > 0:54:24OK, everybody, I know that you're all desperately waiting to hear some
0:54:24 > 0:54:27results from the study and all the hard work that you've done.
0:54:27 > 0:54:32So one of our hypotheses was that the consumption of large amounts
0:54:32 > 0:54:34of red meat was associated with a consumption of lots of
0:54:34 > 0:54:38saturated fat, and so going from your regular intake,
0:54:38 > 0:54:39which is shown on that table,
0:54:39 > 0:54:41to about half the amount of red meat you were eating,
0:54:41 > 0:54:44we reckon that you've reduced your saturated intake on a weekly basis
0:54:44 > 0:54:47by about that much every week. Per week? Per week.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50So 12 lots of that over the whole of the study.
0:54:50 > 0:54:5212 times that amount?
0:54:52 > 0:54:55That's... I mean, that's shocking, isn't it?
0:54:55 > 0:54:57It's a lot. That's incredible, isn't it? Yeah.
0:54:58 > 0:55:03'What makes this saturated fat so dangerous is that it
0:55:03 > 0:55:07'raises the levels of so-called bad cholesterol in the bloodstream.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10'This can lead to the risk of heart disease and stroke.'
0:55:10 > 0:55:13We tend to have two types of cholesterol in our blood -
0:55:13 > 0:55:16we have bad cholesterol, so-called LDL cholesterol,
0:55:16 > 0:55:19which increases your risk, and we have good cholesterol,
0:55:19 > 0:55:21the HDL cholesterol which decreases
0:55:21 > 0:55:23your risk of heart disease over your lifetime.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27'Having assessed blood samples taken throughout the study,
0:55:27 > 0:55:31'Andy can reveal for the first time the effect of meat reduction on
0:55:31 > 0:55:33'cholesterol levels.'
0:55:33 > 0:55:35So in terms of your good cholesterol,
0:55:35 > 0:55:38the first thing I can tell you is that that, actually,
0:55:38 > 0:55:41for the whole group, did not change significantly
0:55:41 > 0:55:42over the 12-week period.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45However, with the bad cholesterol, the LDL cholesterol,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49the cholesterol that increases your risk, we saw an overall drop,
0:55:49 > 0:55:53and we saw a drop in the group as a whole of about
0:55:53 > 0:55:5710% in your bad cholesterol.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01'Interestingly, the volunteers who started with the highest levels
0:56:01 > 0:56:06'of LDL also saw the biggest drop - an impressive 18% reduction
0:56:06 > 0:56:09'in the bad cholesterol in their blood.'
0:56:09 > 0:56:13So, by doing this, you can actually have a fairly significant
0:56:13 > 0:56:17and positive impact on your health and your life expectancy.
0:56:17 > 0:56:18Absolutely.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21If you could consistently reduce to this sort of level over a
0:56:21 > 0:56:24period of years rather than months, which these people are doing,
0:56:24 > 0:56:26then it starts to have that impact.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28As you get older, as you get to my sort of age,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31then that really is significant in terms of the likelihood of you
0:56:31 > 0:56:35having a heart attack, perhaps in the next ten years.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39'These kinds of reductions in bad cholesterol have a real life impact.
0:56:39 > 0:56:43'They can lower the risk of developing heart disease
0:56:43 > 0:56:46'by up to 30%.'
0:56:46 > 0:56:49I didn't think there'd be that much of a drop in my bad cholesterol,
0:56:49 > 0:56:51certainly in a short period of time, I have to say.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53So, I'm pretty surprised, yeah.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56It's great to be able to reduce
0:56:56 > 0:57:00the amount of bad cholesterol with just your diet.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04I definitely am going to cut down the amount of meat.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07You know, I'm not going to get any younger, so I think
0:57:07 > 0:57:10reducing my red meat consumption might be
0:57:10 > 0:57:12something I'd consider doing.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16It perhaps will remind me every now and then that, you know,
0:57:16 > 0:57:19if I'm tucking in to too many steaks in a week that perhaps I should have
0:57:19 > 0:57:22the fish instead off the menu rather than the red meat.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29'This study suggests that cutting your red meat eating by a moderate,
0:57:29 > 0:57:33'manageable amount can have a big impact on your health.'
0:57:38 > 0:57:42'I've come to the end of my investigation into the science
0:57:42 > 0:57:45'of what's good for us in meat and what's not.
0:57:45 > 0:57:49'I've learned that red meat is an unrivalled single source
0:57:49 > 0:57:52'of essential minerals and vitamins,
0:57:52 > 0:57:55'but that we should definitely be cutting down on it
0:57:55 > 0:57:59'and processed meat to reduce our risks of heart disease and cancer.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03'Surprisingly, the meats that give us the cleanest bill of health
0:58:03 > 0:58:06'were the most affordable.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08'Offal... ROOSTER CROWS
0:58:08 > 0:58:10'and fresh chicken.'
0:58:12 > 0:58:15I've learnt some stark facts about the health risks associated with
0:58:15 > 0:58:17eating meat. There's no getting away from it.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20But I come away from it feeling reassured.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23You can reduce the negatives pretty easily and still enjoy meat,
0:58:23 > 0:58:25and with a few changes to your habits,
0:58:25 > 0:58:27you can still make meat a healthy choice.