Ernie1 The problem is a lot of the statements comes from research (“studies”) and you have to be super careful when reading such statements. This is because such research “studies” can be based on other “studies” and often there is either a paucity of actual experimental data, funding interests on some research and of course the issues about self selected/reported data for studies. e.g.
- cancer research, plant foods companies etc.. funds studies or research
- processed or non processed food industry funds
- how good is the study and the study or research it’s based on
- do you really understand the statistics used
- why does red and processed meat always seem to be lumped together
- what were the questions asked of respondents, did the respondents understand the distinction between red meat and processed meat correctly. e.g. a natural burger and a heavily processed one
- cheap and expensive meat, not all red meat is created equal
- were lifestyle and cultural differences excluded
- was the whole diet examined, or just meat consumption e.g. were lots of high fibre veg being consumed?
There’s loads more issues that need to be considered.