Summary of FBDG recommendations for meat for the EU, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom
Due care was taken to ensure factually correct information. Food groupings and food group names differ across individual FBDGs; the ones used here are a compromise to present the information in a structured way. Differences such as those in number of portions and portion sizes were kept unaltered. The original country FBDGs and the responsible national public health authorities remain the only qualified points of reference.
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| - | Eat less meat, particularly red and processed meat. Vary with fish, egg, and plant protein foods such as legumes and tofu. | - | |
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Notes: White meat
Red meat
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Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 times/d, alternating between meat, poultry, fish, eggs, pulses, plant-based alternatives. | Favour: lean meats, fish, and vegetal substitutes with enough proteins, low in fat, low in salt. Tolerated: medium-fat meats, lean charcuterie, vegetarian substitues that are fattier (breaded...). Occasionally: fatty meats, fatty charcuteries, smoked fish. | - | |
| Notes: To belong to this group: at least 5% proteins. Exclusion if total fat is >50% or >15% SFA. Favour: protein/fat ratio min. 1, at least 8% protein, max. 5% SFA, max. 300 mg sodium/100 g, i.e. lean meats, fish, and vegetal substitutes with enough proteins, low in fat, low in salt. Tolerated: 5-10% SFA and <40% total fat and <900 mg sodium/100 g, i.e. medium-fat meats, lean charcuterie, vegetarian substitues that are fattier (breaded...). Occasionally: 10-15% SFA, meat and charcuteries with >20% total fat, i.e. fatty meats, fatty charcuteries, smoked fish. | |||
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| Consume poultry without the skin and lean red meats up to 3 times/week. | Replace meat and meat products with fish, poultry or pulses. Choose lean meat. | 100 g/serving | |
| - | Reduce high-fat meat cuts (e.g. pork belly, sausages, charcuteries). | - | |
| Max. 500 g of cooked meat a week from beef, veal, lamb or pork (corresponds to 2-3 dinners per week + some cold cuts) | Choose meat and meat products with max. 10% fat. Select poultry, fish, eggs, V or legumes for the rest of the day and as side dish. Vary the way you prepare meat, it should not be roasted or grilled until the crust is dark. Choose meat products with the Keyhole label. | - | |
| No more than 300-600 g of prepared meat and (low-fat) cold cuts per week. | Meat and sausages in moderation. Choose low-fat products. White meat (poultry) more favourable than red meat (beef, pork). | 100-150 g meat, 15-25 g cold cuts | |
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| 3-4 portions. Fish, poultry, eggs, meat, and products made from them (1-2 meat, poultry, & products made from them). Red meat max. 500 g/week (raw weight 700 g). Heart and liver products max. once per week. | Poultry: prefer small poultry, without skin, cuts without visible fat. Red meat: prefer lean. Processed meat products: as little as possible, prefer with higher meat content, less fat and/or salt. | Poultry (cooked): 60 g fillet, 40-50 g skinless, 15-25 g with skin. Poultry products: 120 g chicken liver, 50 g chicken sausage, smoked turkey, or broiler chicken, 20 g chicken ham. Red meat: 35 g beef, cattle, lamb, veal, 30 g minced meat, 50 g elk or venison, 40 g rabbit or wild boar. Red meat products: 30 g escalope, rotisserie, Frikandel, etc., 50 g ham, grilled sausage, canned meat, 20 g smoked sausage, salami, 100 g aspic 2-5% fat, 70 g aspic 5.1-10% fat, 40 g aspic >10% fat, 45 g cooked liver, kidneys, 30 g boiled beef tongue, 25 g smoked bacon, 10 g fried bacon, 40 g liver or meat paté 15% fat, 20 g fatty liver or meat pate 30% fat. 1 portion ≈ 80 kcal. | |
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| 2 servings a day of meat, poultry, fish, eggs, beans and nuts. | Choose lean meat, poultry (without skin) and fish. Limit processed salty meats such as sausages, bacon and ham. | 50-70 g cooked lean beef, lamb, pork (half size of palm of hand), 50-70 g cooked mince or poultry (half size of palm of hand), 100 g soy or tofu. | |
| Notes: Use healthier cooking methods like grilling instead of frying or roasting with oil or fat. | |||
| Up to 1 serving of red meat per week; 1-2 servings of white meat/poultry per week. | Red meat: limit consumption; choose lean cuts; avoid processed meat. White meat & poultry: discard the skin; avoid processed meat. | 120-150 g (cooked) | |
| Notes: Separate advice on fish. | |||
| - | It is not necessary to take meat every day. It is advisable to alternate it with fish and we must include different species: beef, pork, chicken, rabbit, lamb, etc. | - | |
| For those who like red meat, limit consumption to max. 500 g per week. For those who like charcuterie, do not exceed 150 g per week. | Limit red meat consumption (beef, pork, veal, lamb, goat, horse, wild boar, venison) and favour the consumption of poultry. Limit the consumption of charcuterie, and favour boiled ham. | - | |
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| Not more than 600 g per week. | Reduce amounts of red and processed meat. Choose poultry over red meat and prefer lean cuts. | - | |
| 1-2 portions of meat, fish, egg, or legumes per day | Meat, fish, and eggs group: within the group, prefer lean meats (beef, poultry, pork, etc) and fish. Moderate consumption of products with high fat content such as certain kinds of meats and sausages. | 1 small slice of fresh meat (70 g), 3-4 medium slices of ham, seasoned meat (cured meat) | |
| 2-3 portions per day meat or equivalent (cheese & legumes, eggs, peanut butter, tofu and fish included in meat). | Alternate between red meat, poultry, eggs, tofu, pulses, fish. Remove skin and visible fat from the meat, even before starting cooking. | 30 g ham / cured pork tenderloin "lountza", 30 g chicken (without skin), 30 g rabbit, 1 egg, 30 g minced meat, 30 g pork, 30 g beef, 1/2 cup (120 ml) pulses, 1/4 cup (60 ml) tofu (approx. 60 g), 2 tablespoons (30 ml) peanut butter. | |
| Notes: Meat is included in one group together with cheese, legumes, eggs, peanut butter, tofu, and fish. | |||
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| 300-600 g per week of lean meat. | Refrain from fatty meat and meat products because they contain high amounts of fats, food additives (nitric acid) and toxic substances (occuring during wood combustion to smoke the meat). Choose lean meat or cut off all visible fats when cooking meat. | - | |
| 2-3 portions of meat, fish, eggs, pulses, nuts. Up to 80 g (cooked weight) per day of cooked meat (i.e. 3 matchbox-sized pieces). | Replace fatty meat and meat products with legumes, fish, poultry or lean meat. | About 70 g of meat | |
| - | Alternate between various protein sources and use low-fat modes of preparation (baking, steaming, grilling). Give preference to lean cuts and eat cold cuts sparingly. Good alternatives: tofu, seitan, quorn. | - | |
| Offal max. once per week. | Each meal should have complete protein. Every week eat a variety of complete protein-rich foods such as lean meat or eggs. | 1 slice of meat = roughly size of your palm (100 g) | |
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| Red meat: less than 2 servings per week. White meat: 2 servings per week. | Eat red meat in smaller quantities and less frequently. Processed meats are to be eaten only occasionally. Trim excess fat and remove skin from poultry before cooking. Opt for lean meat. | Red meat: 90 g (raw). White meat: 100 g (raw). | |
| 1-8 yr: maximum 250 g per week.
9 yr and older: maximum 500 g per week, including maximum 300 g of red meat per week. |
Eat less meat and more plant-based foods, and vary with fish, pulses, nuts, eggs and vegetarian products.
Processed meat is not part of the Wheel of Five. It is advised to limit the consumption of processed meat. |
100 g raw meat | |
| Notes: Included in protein-rich products. | |||
| Max. 3 portions/week of lean meat or lean sausage (up to 3 hand palm-sized thin slices) | Eat meat (e.g. beef, pork, lamb) and sausages rather rarely | 1 hand palm-sized finger-thick piece of meat, up to 3 hand palm-sized thin slices of sausage. | |
| Red meat and processed meat max. 500 g per week. | Choose lean cuts of meat. Favour poultry (turkey, chicken) over red meat (beef, pork). | - | |
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| 1.5-4.5 servings of meat/fish/eggs/other source of protein per day. | Moderate consumption. Offal and viscera should not be consumed frequently. | 30 g of raw meat, 25 g of cooked meat. | |
| 2-3 servings of lean meat (preferably poultry) or fish, egg per day. | Limit your intake of meat. Remove visible fat from meat and remove the skin from chicken. Include a variety of lean meat, poultry, pulses, eggs, fish. Limit your intake of liver or other organ meats. Choose fish or white meat over red meat. | 100 g cooked meat | |
| 3-5 servings of meat, fish or substitute per day. | Use lean meat. Limit consumption of meat products. For diversity of diet, include red meat (beef, pork, sheep meat, horse meat, game, etc.) in the weekly menu 2-3 times, and 1-3 times poultry. | One serving = half a small steak, 2 to 3 slices of lean fat-free meat products only occasionally, 4 slices of ham. | |
| 0-2 portions of meat, fish and eggs per day. Limited portion for children 60-90 g. Red meat once per week. | Eat in moderation. Buy fresh, not frozen meat - limit fat content. Non-smoked meat products with reduced salt. Give preference to white, lean meat, fish. | - | |
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| Max. 500 g a week of red meat (cooked weight; raw weight = 700-750 g) | Red meat (beef, lamb, pork): choose low-fat and low-sodium. Limit intake of red and processed meat products. Reduce the use of meat products and red meat. | 100-150 g meat (cooked weight) | |
| Not more than 500 g red and processed meat a week. | Eat less red and processed meat. | - | |
| Notes: Equivalent to 600-750 g of raw meat. | |||
| If you eat more than 90 g of red or processed meat per day, try to cut down to no more than 70 g per day. | Eat less red and processed meat. Choose lean cuts of meat, go for leaner mince and remove any visible fat. | - | |
| Notes: Included in "Beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins". | |||
Country |
Quantitative recommendations |
Qualitative recommendations |
Portion size |
| 1 portion of meat/fish/eggs/tofu/cheese per day. Max. 2-3 times meat per week (incl. poultry). Processed meat max. once per week. | Alternate between these protein-rich foods. Replace more often meat with other protein-rich foods (e.g. dairy products, eggs, tofu, seitan, legumes). | 1 portion = 100-120 g meat / poultry / tofu / quorn / seitan (fresh weight) | |
| Max. 500 g of red meat per week; specially limit consumption of processed meat products. | Choose mostly unprocessed lean meat. Choose meat products with the Keyhole label if possible. | 500 g equals 2-3 portions of meat a week and includes a small quantity of meat toppings. | |
| Limit the amount of red meat and processed red meat to less than 500 g per week. This equals 2-3 dinners and a small amount of meat topping. | Choose lean meat and lean meat products. Limit the amount of processed meat and red meat. Choose poultry, lean meat and lean meat products that are low in salt. Limit the amount of processed meat that are smoked, salted or preserved with nitrates or nitrites, such as bacon or salami. | - | |
| Originally Published | Last Updated | 07 Dec 2020 | 03 Feb 2021 |
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