Objectives: To compare nutrient and food intakes in a group of meat eating women who ate beef with those who did not eat beef.
Design: Analysis of preliminary data from the UK Women's Cohort Study, a national study of women aged 35-69 y.
Subjects: Three thousand and eighty-six beef meat eaters from the cohort were compared with 593 non-beef meat eaters.
Results: The non-beef eaters had lower energy, protein, zinc, fat, percentage of energy from fat and body mass index and higher fibre and vitamin C intakes than the beef eaters. There was no difference between the groups in consumption of carbohydrate, sugar or iron.
Conclusion: There were differences in nutrient intake between the groups, which if reflected long term in the general population have implications for health and food policy following media revelations.