The Truth About Meat — Introduction (03:03)

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Chris Bavin talks about the bad press that meat has been getting and the new research that links meat eating to public health problems. Bavin illustrates how much meat an average British citizen eats in a year. Bavin wants to keep eating meat as safely as possible.

Benefits of Eating Meat (04:24)

Sue Byche performs a demonstration with volunteers to show how many vitamins and nutrients are contained within the meat in our diets. Volunteers are surprised by the quantities of food necessary to replace the nutrient rich meat dishes.

Processed Meats (05:08)

Bavin shares headlines linking processed meat with various forms of cancer and disease. Hugo Jeffreys gives Bavin a look at the techniques of traditional meat processing. Bavin processes a side of pork into bacon under the tutelage of Jeffreys.

Nitrites and Nitrates (05:22)

Gunter Kuhnle explains why nitrites and nitrates are harmful and dangerous to our health. Kuhnle demonstrates the nitrite content of common processed meats through an experiment. Bavin performs a taste test with reduced nitrite sausages.

Health Risks (01:55)

Bavin examines risk analysis studies of eating processed meat. Bavin compares unprocessed red meat and processed meat risks. How meat is cooked may contribute to how healthy it is.

BBQ Challenge (05:48)

Bavin sets up a challenge to cook a steak and compare the health outcomes in the different preparation methods. Martin Rose uses chemical analysis to probe how safe the steaks are after barbecuing. The contestants go to round 2 in an effort to produce a safer steak.

Heart Disease (05:25)

Bavin travels to Nottingham University to see a study that reduces meat intake of volunteers. Andy Salter speaks with Bavin about the risk factors coming from red meat consumption.

Chicken Consumption (05:18)

Bavin speaks about the trend in the UK of switching away from red meat to chicken. Laura Wyness assists Bavin in measuring the fat and nutrient content of five different types of farmed chicken.

The Slaughter Process (04:30)

Bavin visits an abattoir in Somerset, UK to have an up close look at the process of slaughtering animals for food. Phil Hadley, an expert on livestock welfare, guides Bavin through the abattoir and the slaughter process. Bavin shares the numbers of animals slaughtered each year in the UK.

Offal (05:14)

Consumption of offal has declined 80% in the UK since the 1980s. Bavin visits Neil Forbes, an award winning offal chef in Edinburgh, Scotland. Forbes and Bavin give samples of cooked offal to blind taste test volunteers.

Heart Disease Research Results (04:58)

Bavin returns to Nottingham University to get the results of the heart disease and red meat study. Salter shares the health and nutritional changes in study participants. Volunteers speak about their feelings after finding out how beneficial cutting red meat was to their cholesterol ratings.

Credits: The Truth About Meat (00:47)

Credits: The Truth About Meat