U.S. Meat Consumption at Record; Choices Healthier

January 4, 2000

In 1999, total meat consumption (red meat, poultry and fish) should have reached 197 pounds (boneless, trimmed-weight equivalent) per person, 64 pounds more than consumption in the 1950s. However a combination of industry factors, such as producing leaner animals and marketing lower fat products, has lowered significantly the meat, poultry and fish groups' contribution to total fat in the food supply.

Despite near record-high per capita consumption of total meat in 1994, says USDA, the proportion of fat in the food supply from meat, poultry and fish declined from 32% in the 1950s to 25% in 1994. Similarly, the proportion of saturated fat contributed by meat, poultry and fish declined from 33% in the 1950s to 26% in 1994.

After adjusting for waste and cooking losses, the 1998 per capita meat supply provided the equivalent of 6 ounces of cooked meat per day. The Food Guide Pyramid recommends 6 ounces of cooked lean meat equivalents per day for a 2,200 calorie diet. Red meats accounted for 71% of the total fat and 77% of the saturated fat in the 1994 meat supply.

Between 1950 and 1989, annual egg consumption declined steadily by nearly four eggs per person per year -- moving from 390 eggs to 237. That leveled off in the early 1990s,. From a record low of 234 eggs per person per year in 1990-91, consumption increased to 244 eggs in 1998 and should have reached 249 eggs in 1999. Recent research shows no link between daily consumption of one or two eggs and heart disease, a finding which may further boost consumption.

The report also shows that consumers drank an average of 35% less milk in 1998 and ate nearly four times as much cheese, excluding cottage, pot and baker's cheese, than in the 1950s. Consumption of beverage milk declined from an annual average of 36 gallons per person in the 1950s to 24 gallons in 1998. Large increases in eating away from home, especially at fast-food places, and large increases in consumption of salty snack foods favored soft drink consumption over milk, says the report. (Other recent research, however, has suggested that soft drink consumption does not displace dairy product intake.)

In 1997, consumers ate 22% more fruit and vegetables than they did in the 1970s. Because of changes in its data availability and methodology, fruit and vegetable consumption for the 1950s and 1960s is not comparable to that for the 1970s and on, says USDA. Supermarket produce departments now carry more than 400 produce items, an increase from 250 items in the late 1980s and 150 in the 1970s.

Many consumers' diets meet the Food Guide Pyramid's serving recommendations for grain products; the pyramid recommends nine daily servings of grain products for a 2,200 calorie diet. However, most people's diets are short of the recommended several daily servings of whole grain products, the report says.

The report is part of USDA's FoodReview magazine and is available on the Internet at