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Dr. Allison has received research funding from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a lobbying group for meat producers. This is just meat industry damag

Dr. Allison has received research funding from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a lobbying group for meat producers. This is just meat industry damage control. The Harvard rebuttal lays out the issues pretty well. Just like big tobacco and big oil, they just need to sow enough confusion around the facts to make people give up and stop paying attention.

oh_sigh 7y ago
One would expect a cattle lobbying group to support hopeful studies which support their worldview. I think it is premature to write this off merely for that fact, just like it would be to write off a study which came to the opposite conclusion if it was funded by a soy growers association.
dang 7y ago
That person isn't an author of the study, presumably just someone the NYT asked to comment. The article says about this study: "The investigators reported no conflicts of interest and did the studies without outside funding." I think it's fair to say that "This is just meat industry damage control" breaks the HN guideline: "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- cageface 7y ago
  Fair enough. I thought it was worth mentioning since the meat industry is engaged in an active disinformation campaign. As others have said, the Harvard rebuttal itself gets into the details. I'll link it again here: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2019/09/30/flawed-guidelines-red-processed-meat/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2019/09/30/flaw...
  - scottlocklin 7y ago
    > the meat industry is engaged in an active disinformation campaign Come on man: citations needed. From where I am sitting, the "meat industry" is about as threatened by vegetarians as the brussel sprouts industry is by mcdonalds. Keto diets are presently quite popular and don't seem to do people much harm at least.
    - cageface 7y ago
      Major fast food chains are rolling out plant based burgers, backed by massive marketing campaigns. You bet the meat industry is threatened by this. If you’re really interested in learning more about this read the book Meatanomics: https://meatonomics.com/ https://meatonomics.com/ The typical keto diet is an improvement over the standard American diet loaded with junk but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other dietary options with better long term results and much smaller environmental impact.
      - scottlocklin 7y ago
        That isn't really much of a citation; it's an assertion, and the thing you link me to is ... not a citation either: it's some kind of vegetarian propaganda. I don't care about factory farming or the "personal dignity" of cows; I just want to know why you think there is a "meat industry" engaged in disinformation programs. From the looks of this link, you may be projecting. FWIIW I barely eat red meat when I'm in America; mostly game meats. No horse in this race, but if you know something I don't about nefarious meat conspiracies, you should link people to it.
        cageface 7y ago
        There are so many industry funded studies with conclusions contrary to mainstream wisdom I hardly know where to start. This article lists several, just as an example: https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/marta-zaraska-big-meat-article-1.2669374 https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/marta-zaraska-big-meat-a... Also the statement that you don’t care about factory farming is a pretty appalling disregard for the suffering of intelligent animals.

oh_sigh 7y ago

One would expect a cattle lobbying group to support hopeful studies which support their worldview. I think it is premature to write this off merely for that fact, just like it would be to write off a study which came to the opposite conclusion if it was funded by a soy growers association.

dang 7y ago

That person isn't an author of the study, presumably just someone the NYT asked to comment. The article says about this study: "The investigators reported no conflicts of interest and did the studies without outside funding." I think it's fair to say that "This is just meat industry damage control" breaks the HN guideline: "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

cageface 7y ago
Fair enough. I thought it was worth mentioning since the meat industry is engaged in an active disinformation campaign. As others have said, the Harvard rebuttal itself gets into the details. I'll link it again here: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2019/09/30/flawed-guidelines-red-processed-meat/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/2019/09/30/flaw...
- scottlocklin 7y ago
  > the meat industry is engaged in an active disinformation campaign Come on man: citations needed. From where I am sitting, the "meat industry" is about as threatened by vegetarians as the brussel sprouts industry is by mcdonalds. Keto diets are presently quite popular and don't seem to do people much harm at least.
  - cageface 7y ago
    Major fast food chains are rolling out plant based burgers, backed by massive marketing campaigns. You bet the meat industry is threatened by this. If you’re really interested in learning more about this read the book Meatanomics: https://meatonomics.com/ https://meatonomics.com/ The typical keto diet is an improvement over the standard American diet loaded with junk but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other dietary options with better long term results and much smaller environmental impact.
    - scottlocklin 7y ago
      That isn't really much of a citation; it's an assertion, and the thing you link me to is ... not a citation either: it's some kind of vegetarian propaganda. I don't care about factory farming or the "personal dignity" of cows; I just want to know why you think there is a "meat industry" engaged in disinformation programs. From the looks of this link, you may be projecting. FWIIW I barely eat red meat when I'm in America; mostly game meats. No horse in this race, but if you know something I don't about nefarious meat conspiracies, you should link people to it.
      - cageface 7y ago
        There are so many industry funded studies with conclusions contrary to mainstream wisdom I hardly know where to start. This article lists several, just as an example: https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/marta-zaraska-big-meat-article-1.2669374 https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/marta-zaraska-big-meat-a... Also the statement that you don’t care about factory farming is a pretty appalling disregard for the suffering of intelligent animals.