Concentrations of toxic and nutritional essential elements in meat from different beef breeds reared under intensive production systems.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Animal/meat tissue composition study with no human data
PubMed 24526320 · doi:10.1007/s12011-014-9913-y
What was done
Concentrations of essential elements (Ca, P, Mg, Na, K, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Se, Co, Cr, Ni, Sr, Ba) and toxic heavy metals (Cd, Pb) were measured in the longissimus muscle of Charolais, Hereford, and Simmental bulls reared under intensive production systems using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry.
What was found
Breeds differed significantly in meat concentrations of K, Mg, Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn. Meat from Charolais bulls had significantly higher K (P < 0.01) and significantly lower Cu, Zn (P < 0.001), and Mn (P < 0.05) than Hereford and Simmental meat. Charolais meat had lower Fe (P < 0.05) than Hereford meat and lower Mg (P < 0.05) than Simmental meat. Hereford meat had higher Fe (P < 0.05) and lower Mg (P < 0.01) than Simmental meat. Se and Fe contents across breeds were lower than previously reported. No breed differences were found for Pb and Cd, though Pb exceeded recommended standards. Absolute concentration numbers were not reported in the abstract.
Why it matters
Mineral and trace element profiles in beef vary by cattle breed under identical intensive production systems, with implications for nutritional labeling and monitoring heavy metal exposure.
Limits
Sample size (n) is not reported in the abstract. Absolute numerical concentrations and confidence intervals are omitted. The study examines only one muscle type (longissimus) and does not identify specific environmental or dietary sources of heavy metal contamination.
Cited by
- supports One pound of meat contains approximately 100 milligrams of magnesium.