Americans are eating up the meat industry's health claims

Health newsAmericans are eating up the meat industry's health claimsConsumer appetites for protein are fueling record meat sales, raising experts’ concerns about the risk of heart disease and other illnesses.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00The protein craze has been in full swing for several years, but this year it got a boost from federal officials.Justine Goode / NBC News; Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 11, 2026, 5:30 AM EDTBy Rich BellisProtein-hungry shoppers are buying more meat with their health top of mind. Health experts, however, wish they’d think beyond the butcher counter.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.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.Meat Institute CEO Julie Anna Potts said in a statement that the data “reinforces meat’s clear and irreplaceable role” in providing consumers with “healthy, convenient, affordable meals.” The trade group, which declined interview requests from NBC News, has long pitched the same argument to policymakers. It cheered the updated U.S. dietary guidelines unveiled in January that recommend more protein, especially meat and full-fat dairy. And when the report was released at the industry’s Annual Meat Conference last month, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was there as a featured guest.The protein craze has been in full swing for several years. But with the trend going strong and a fresh boost from federal officials — in February, Kennedy posted on X...