Americans are eating up the meat industry's health claims

Protein-hungry shoppers are buying more meat with their health top of mind.

Protein-hungry shoppers are buying more meat with their health top of mind. Health experts, however, wish they’d think beyond the butcher counter.

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More than three-quarters of U.S. consumers saw meat and poultry as “part of a healthy, balanced diet” last year, up from 64% in 2020, according to an annual survey from food industry groups FMI and the Meat Institute, released last month. Forty-five percent are “actively trying to prepare more meals containing meat or poultry,” while another 31% are “doing so off and on,” the survey found.

The unifying factor behind these increases? Protein. It’s “firmly at the center of consumer interest,” the report said.