FATTY-ACID CONTENT AND COMPOSITION OF ENGLISH BEEF, LAMB AND PORK AT RETAIL

We have determined the fatty acid content and composition of retail sa mples of meat and assessed them with respect to UK dietary recommendat ions. Fifty beef sirloin steaks, pork chops and lamb chops were purcha sed from four supermarkets on separate occasions. The percentage of mu scle (boneless basis) in the samples was 84.4+/-4.3, 69.8+/-7.7 and 78 .9+/-7.1 for beef, lamb and pork, respectively, with fatty acid conten ts of 3.84+/-1.3, 4.73+/-1.66 and 2.26+/-0.7 g per 100 g muscle, respe ctively. Adipose tissue fatty acid contents were 70.0+/-8.2, 70.6+/-8. 6 and 65.3+/-9.4 g per 100 g tissue. A range of C20 and C22 polyunsatu rated fatty acids (PUFA) was present in the muscle of all three specie s and pork adipose tissue but their concentrations in lamb and beef ad ipose tissue were too low to measure. The mean P:S ratios for beef lam b and pork muscle were (adipose tissue values in pa,entheses): 0.11 (0 .05); 0.15 (0.09) and 0.58 (0.61), and the n-6:n-3 ratios were 2.1 (2. 3), 1.3 (1.4) and 7.2 (7.6). We conclude that the muscles of red meat species are a valuable source of PUFA, particularly the C20 and C22 n- 3 fatty acids, in the human diet and that, considered as part of a var ied diet, the low P:S ratio of the ruminant muscle, the high n-6:n-3 r atio of pork and the total fatty acid contents do not detract signific antly from the nutritional value of lean meat. (C) 1996 Published by E lsevier Science Ltd.