Washington, DC —Advances in the development of cultured meat products and plant based “meat alternatives” are hot topics in the media, though often with inaccuracies about the environmental impact, nutrition and safety of traditional meat products. To help address many of these common mistakes, the North American Meat Institute has developed its newest Media MythCrusher. The document discusses 13 different misperceptions and provides the facts for reporters to use as they develop their stories.
“There are many claims made about how new technologies compare to traditional meat production, though context is often lacking in news coverage,” said Meat Institute Vice President of Public Affairs Eric Mittenthal. “The Media MythCrusher aims to provide the facts about traditional meat production and how it relates to new technologies.”
The Media MythCrusher includes more detail on the USDA definition of meat as debate continues about how new cultured and plant based products should be regulated. It also highlights the science on the environmental impact of meat production, one of the most common inaccurate claims seen in news coverage. Recent research suggests that eliminating animal agriculture in the U.S. reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only 2.6%, and increase deficiencies in essential nutrients.
The Media MythCrusher is the sixth in the series, which also features documents addressing myths about theenvironmental impact of meat, antibiotics, meat curing and sodium nitrite and the International Agency for Research on Cancer review of red and processed meat. It complements the Meat MythCrusher video series, featuring 54 videos produced by the Meat Institute and American Meat Science Association (AMSA). The videos include interviews with meat scientists and other prominent experts on the most common myths surrounding meat and poultry production and processing.
For more, visit www.meatinstitute.org and www.meatmythcrushers.com.
Source: American Meat Science Association (AMSA)
