Meat in your diet

Meat is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals in your diet. However, the Department of Health has advised that people who eat a lot of red and processed meat a day (more than 90g cooked weight) cut down to 70g.

Making healthier choices can help you eat meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet. But some meats are high in saturated fat, which can raise blood cholesterol levels.

If you eat a lot of red and processed meat, it is recommended that you cut down as there is likely to be a link between red and processed meat and bowel cancer.

Meats such as chicken, pork, lamb and beef are all rich in protein. A balanced diet can include protein from meat, as well as from non-animal sources such as beans and pulses.


Food hygiene is important when storing, preparing and cooking meat.

Find out more about:

Meat and saturated fat

How much red meat?

Storing and preparing meat safely

Cooking meat safely

Liver and liver products 

Meat and pregnant women's diet

Meat and saturated fat



Make healthier choices when buying meat


These tips can help you buy healthier options:

  • Ask your butcher for a lean cut.
  • If you're buying pre-packed meat, check the nutrition label to see how much fat it contains and compare products.
  • Go for turkey and chicken without the skin as these are lower in fat (or remove the skin before cooking).
  • Try to limit processed meat products such as sausages, salami, pâté and beefburgers, because these are generally high in fat. They are often high in salt, too.
  • Try to limit meat products in pastry, such as pies and sausage rolls, because they are often high in fat and salt.

Cut down on fat when cooking meat


Here are some other ways to reduce fat when cooking meat:

  • Grill meat, rather than frying. Trimmed pork chops that have been grilled contain around one-third the fat of roasted untrimmed chops. A lean grilled rump steak contains about half the fat of fried rump steak with the fat. And fried chicken breast in breadcrumbs contains nearly six times as much fat as chicken breast grilled without the skin.
  • Don't add extra fat or oil when cooking meat.
  • Roast meat on a metal rack above a roasting tin so the fat can run off.
  • Try using smaller quantities of meat and more vegetables, pulses and starchy foods in dishes such as stews, curries and casseroles.

How much red and processed meat should we eat?




Ninety grams is equivalent to around three thinly cut slices of beef, lamb or pork, where each slice is about the size of half a piece of sliced bread. A cooked breakfast containing two typical British sausages and two rashers of bacon is equivalent to 130g.

For more information, read Red meat and bowel cancer risk.

Storing meat safely


  • Store raw meat or raw poultry in clean sealed containers on the bottom shelf of the fridge, so the meat can't touch or drip onto other food.
  • Follow any storage instructions on the label and don't eat meat after its "use by" date.
  • Always thoroughly clean plates, utensils, surfaces and hands straight away after they have touched raw or thawing meat to stop bacteria from spreading.

Freezing meat safely

It's safe to freeze raw meat providing that you:

  • Freeze it before the "use by" date.
  • Follow any freezing or thawing instructions on the label.
  • Cook the meat straight away if you defrost it in a microwave. If you want to defrost meat and cook it later, thaw it in a fridge so that it doesn't get too warm.
  • Use the meat within two days of defrosting. It will go off in the same way as fresh meat.
  • Cook food until it's steaming hot all the way through.

When meat thaws, liquid can come out of it. This liquid will spread bacteria to any food, plates or surfaces that it touches. Keep the meat in a sealed container at the bottom of the fridge so that it can't touch or drip onto other foods.


There is more information about how to freeze foods safely in Food safety.

Cooking meat safely

Some people wash meat before they cook it, but this actually increases your risk of food poisoning, because the water droplets splash onto surfaces and can contaminate them with bacteria. For this reason, it's best not to wash meat.

It's important to prepare and cook meat properly. Cooking meat properly ensures that harmful bacteria on the meat are killed. If meat isn't cooked all the way through, these bacteria may cause food poisoning.

Bacteria and viruses can be found all the way through certain meat. This means you need to cook these sorts of meat all the way through. When meat is cooked all the way through, its juices run clear and there is no pink or red meat left inside.

Meats that you should cook all the way through are:

  • pork
  • offal, including liver
  • burgers and sausages
  • kebabs
  • rolled joints of meat

You can eat whole cuts of beef or lamb when they are pink inside – or "rare" – as long as they are cooked on the outside. This is because any bacteria are generally on the outside of the meat.

These meats include:

  • steaks
  • cutlets
  • joints

Liver and liver products



  • 700 micrograms of vitamin A per day for men
  • 600 micrograms of vitamin A per day for women

However, because they are such a rich source of vitamin A, we should be careful not to eat too much liver and liver product foods because over the years, a harmful level of vitamin A can build up in the body. This is because the body stores any vitamin A it doesn't use for future use, which means you do not need to consume it every day. 

Having too much vitamin A – more than 1.5mg of vitamin A per day from food and supplements – over many years may make your bones more likely to fracture when you are older.


Women who have been through the menopause and older men should avoid having more than 1.5mg of vitamin A per week from food and supplements. This means not eating liver and liver products more than once a week, or having smaller portions. It also means not taking any supplements containing vitamin A, including fish liver oil, if they do eat liver once a week. This is because older people are at a higher risk of bone fracture.

Pregnant women should avoid vitamin A supplements and liver and liver products.

Eating meat when you're pregnant


  • Raw and undercooked meat, due to the risk of toxoplasmosis. Mare sure any meat you eat is well cooked before eating.
  • Pâté of all types, including vegetable pâté. They can contain listeria, a type of bacteria that could harm your unborn baby.
  • Liver and liver products. These foods are very high in vitamin A, and too much vitamin A can harm the unborn child.

For more information on pregnancy and food, see the Pregnancy and baby guide: foods to avoid.

Page last reviewed: 03/07/2015

Next review due: 03/07/2017


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