Beef is a good source of several vitamins and minerals but data on the net contribution to the human diet is lacking. The objective was to quantify the net nutrient contribution of the beef supply chain to Fe, Zn, Se, P, B12, B6, riboflavin, niacin, and choline in the human diet. Beef cattle production parameters for the beef supply chain were as described by Baber et al. (2018; 10.1093/tas/txy086) with the red meat and liver yield from each production segment estimated using literature values

more »

... f serially harvested beef cattle. Nutrient concentration of feeds was acquired from feed composition tables in beef, swine, poultry, and equine nutrient requirement texts, and the nutrient concentration of beef and liver was based on 2018 USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies. Nutrient absorption values of feeds, red meat, and liver were acquired from the literature for humans or swine if human studies were unavailable. The human-edible conversion ratio was < 1.0 for all nutrients except for P and B12 when only red meat yield was considered indicating that the beef supply chain consumed more human-edible nutrients than it produced. Results were similar when liver yield was added although the ratios were closer to 1 for other nutrients. After adjusting for the absorptability of nutrients, the beef supply chain was a net contributor of niacin, P, and B12 in the human diet with or without liver. The net nutrient contribution is driven primarily by the ratio of nutrient concentration and absorbability of nutrients in beef relative to corn. In the current production scenario, the combined ratio of nutrient concentration multiplied by the ratio of absorbability must equal 15.17 or 12.45 to achieve equilibrium between nutrient consumed and produced for red meat or red meat plus liver yield, respectively. In conclusion, current beef production system is a net contributor of human-absorbable P, B12, and niacin to the human diet.