Grass fed beef versus grain fed and health

Washington Ag Today June 3, 2010 There are over three dozen ranches selling grass fed beef in Washington listed on the Eat Wild website, which bills itself as the number one site for grass fed foods and facts. The website says grass fed beef is better for human health than grain fed beef in ten different ways according to a 2009 study conducted by the USDA and Clemson University.

But the health benefits of eating grass fed beef, versus grain fed beef, may not be as great as some people perceive them to be. That is the conclusion of a recent study conducted at Texas A & M University where Dr. Steve Smith led the research team.

Smith: “The simple conclusion is that there is absolutely no support for the idea that, at least ground beef, from pasture fed beef is any better for you.”

In fact, Smith says their research showed that in some categories, such as cholesterol and insulin, the grain fed beef may even be healthier than grass fed beef.

Smith: “Everything that we see shows that the grain fed beef might actually be better for you.

Smith has received some negative feed back from ranchers in the grass fed business but he emphasizes he is not telling them what they are doing is wrong.

Smith: “There a lot of good reasons that people do it. For sociological reasons. They like that concept. Cattle are adapted to a pasture type diet. All we are trying to do is in this study is say that there really is no solid evidence that we can provide that would say that beef from pasture fed animals is better for you than beef from any other kind of animal.”

The Texas A & M study was funded by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net.