07/10/2025

Meat and Dairy Food Consumption and Breast Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Cohort Studies

Authors: Stacey A Missmer, et al.

Journal/publication: International Journal of Epidemiology 31:2002
One objective of the study was to evaluate the risk of breast cancer associated with meat and dairy food consumption. They combined the primary data from eight prospective cohort studies from North America and Western Europe. Each study had a least 200 incident breast cancer cases, assessment of usual food and nutrient intakes (usually by a food frequency questionnaire) and a validation study of the dietary assessment instrument. The pooled database included 351,041 women; 7,379 of whom were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during up to 15 years of follow up.

The study found no significant association between intakes of total meat (RR 1.02), red meat (RR 0.98), white meat (RR 1.02), total dairy fluids (RR 0.99) or total dairy solids (RR 1.03) and breast cancer risk.

[Note: when the relative risk (RR) is close to one, there is no increased or decreased risk associated with the dietary factor.]

Interpretation/relevance to beef industry:

Comment ... from BIC registered dietitians

  • This study followed a very large number of women for up to 15 years
  • It confirms the findings of other recent studies that there is no increased risk for breast cancer for women who enjoy red meat as part of their balanced diet
  • Beef is a nutrient dense food providing 12 essential nutrients including B vitamins and highly available iron and zinc.
Links:

Abstract from International Journal of Epidemiology.
International Journal of Epidemiology
For information on meat and cancer, download the health professional factsheet -
Cancer Risk & Red Meat Intake
For more information on the essential nutrients found in beef, visit the
nutrition and health section.