By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

A Professor of Meat Science and Animal Product at the Osun State University, Professor Olusola Fakolade, has described the attribution of cholesterol and cancer to the consumption of red meat as a wrong assumption and completely non-scientific.

She added that red meat contains a lot of vitamins and minerals the human body needs, hence, it must not be condemned, but people should be encouraged to consume it.

Speaking at the 26th Inaugural lecture of Osun State University, Osogbo at the weekend, Professor Fakolade stressed the need to be careful with methods of processing red meat, saying wrong processing could make it dangerous for consumption.

According to her, a higher-fat diet, particularly, richer in saturated fats from animal sources like: eggs, and meat, is healthier and is essential for good health than low-fat high-carbohydrate diet.

“A high-fat, low carb diet could aid in weight loss and help to combat the risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes and other chronic diseases

“We should not be condemning red meat. Red meat has a lot of vitamins and minerals and we need it in our body. And so we should not be condemning it again. And that’s why I specifically said there are proteins we need in our body which we can only get from red meat. The problem we have is the way it is processed. The way it is processed is what is affecting us and not the meat itself. The o itself is neutral. It doesn’t have any harmful effects on us as human”.

While noting that methods processing of red meat could make it dangerous for consumption, she stressed the need to keep the temperature of heat sources between 350-400°C and properly spaced to make the meat safe for consumption.

Her words, “The major problem that arises with red meat is when we process it in an unmanageable ways. That is when it affects us. The amount of heat and closeness of red meat to source of heat is the problem. The higher the temperature the more dangerous we turn our red meat into. The acceptable temperature for processing of red meat is 350-400 degrees celsius.

“It is better to maintain a meter distance between meat source and heat source when preparinv grilled cows at parties (Asun).

“Processing red meat products, such as steak meat (Suya), dried meat (Kilishi, kundi) and hanged cow (Asun) in closed contact with sources of heat that is above 400 degrees celsius could lead to the meat absorbing carcinogenic material that are very harmful to life”.

She also urged government at various levels to make concerted efforts to make abattoir more clean for slaughteing of cows and processing it for the members of the public.

“Government at various levels should intervene with a view to reconstructing and standardising abattoir to make for safe red meat processing right from the slaughteing stage”, she added.