Are Red Meat Warnings Based on Flawed Science? Dr. David Klurfeld on Nutrition Myths and Industry Bias

The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

Medicine, Science, Health & Fitness, Life Sciences

4.6 • 911 Ratings

🗓️ 17 June 2025

⏱️ 109 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. David Klurfeld—longtime USDA scientist and one of the few insiders to publicly challenge the WHO's classification of red meat as a carcinogen. We go deep into the flawed evidence behind the infamous 2015 IARC report, why nutritional epidemiology often fails to prove causality, and how a small group of researchers helped shape global policy with low-quality science. If you've ever felt confused about meat, saturated fat, or dietary guidelines, this conversation will help you think critically about what “counts” as evidence—and who gets to decide.

We cover:

Dr. Klurfeld’s personal journey and lessons from a career in public health
Why the 2015 IARC red meat classification was based on weak and inconsistent evidence
How observational studies and “allegiance bias” mislead nutrition science
The politics of dietary guidelines and the role of the USDA and WHO
What the media got wrong—and why red meat remains a nutrient-dense food

Whether you're a clinician, dietitian, or simply trying to make better nutrition decisions, this episode is a powerful reminder that bias, groupthink and weak data can distort science and mislead the public. We need to be discerning about the nutrition and health advice we follow.

Who is Dr. David Klurfeld?

Dr. David Klurfeld is a nutritional scientist and former National Program Leader for Human Nutrition at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. He also served as Professor and Chair of Nutrition and Food Science at Wayne State University and Associate Editor of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He has authored more than 200 scientific publications and was one of 22 experts invited to the 2015 IARC working group on red meat and cancer. He is a longtime advocate for scientific integrity in public health policy.

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Find Dr. David Klurfeld at:

Indiana University Bloomington - https://publichealth.indiana.edu/about/directory/David-Klurfeld-dmklurfe.html
Google Scholar - https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=Ym5Og20AAAAJ&hl=en
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-klurfeld-812845209/

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You've probably heard the claim that eating red meat causes cancer. That message went global.
0:06.8	Hardly any understood where it came from or the science behind the claim.
0:14.0	Dr. David Clurfeld spent decades at the USDA. He's not a fringe voice. He helped write the U.S. dietary guidelines. This episode may change
0:24.9	how you think about red meat, science, and who is shaping your health. Are you concerned that a lot
0:32.2	of what we've been told about red meat has been built on shaky science? You should be.
0:36.9	Keep watching to find out what red meat really means for your health.
0:46.8	Dr. David Clairfeld, welcome to the show.
0:49.9	Thank you.
0:50.8	I cannot tell you how long I have been reading what you have been researching and publishing.
0:59.2	You've just been a tremendous force and it is not always easy to be a fantastic scientist
1:05.8	and to question and push for transparency.
1:09.8	But you have done that. You are up there better than anybody
1:14.5	that I think is out there. So just welcome to the show. Thanks. I could roll up my sleeves and
1:19.9	show you some of the bruises, but I'm not sure your fans want to see that. Yeah. Well, we are going to
1:25.6	talk about the bruises. And to give people context about you and your work, you have been in academics for years.
1:34.3	You recently retired, so congratulations.
1:37.3	You were an adjunct professor in the Indiana University School of Public Health.
1:42.3	You also retired as national program leader for human nutrition
1:45.5	in the USDA Agricultural Research Service. And that was at the end of 2020. Prior to that, you, I mean,
1:54.7	you have a long list of accolades, professor and chairman of the Department of Nutrition and Food
1:58.9	Science at Wayne University in Detroit, Michigan for 12 years. And then, of course, before that, you were faculty at the
2:07.2	Worcester Institute and at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for 15 years.
	...

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