Scots can help tackle climate change by cutting their intake of red and processed meat, the country’s food watchdog has said.
The independent Climate Change Committee has urged Scottish ministers to “take low-cost, low-regret actions to encourage a 20 per cent shift away from all meat by 2030, rising to 35 per cent by 2050, and a 20 per cent shift from dairy products by 2030”. That includes beloved dishes like steak and lamb - but pork is also classed as a red meat, including processed favourites like bacon, sausages and black pudding and cured meats such as pepperoni, salami and chorizo.But it’s bad news for steak-lovers - with the average supermarket cut of sirloin busting the 70g limit more than three times over.
“Given the diet of the Scottish population is so poor, particularly in some sub-groups, an ‘across the board’ population reduction in meat and dairy consumption cannot be recommended as micronutrient intakes may be worsened among those with already low intakes.”