Non-communicable disease risk associated with red and processed meat consumption—magnitude, certainty, and contextuality of risk?

Mean global intakes per person of red and processed meats are 51 and 17 g/day respectively. Consumption is lowest in South Asia (7 and 3 g/d), and highest in Central Europe/Asia (114 and 54 g/d). While some researchers claim that red meat consumption is intrinsically harmful, the evidence does not support this being the case where intakes are below 75 and 20 g/d, respectively. Even beyond these intake levels, only small increases in relative risks are reported (<25%), there is little to no effect on absolute risk, and the certainty of evidence remains low to very low based on the best available summary evidence. Importantly the relationship is not necessarily causal - when meat consumption is part of healthy dietary patterns, harmful associations tend to disappear, suggesting that risk is more likely to be contingent on the dietary context rather than meat itself.