A $151 million project to reinject life into New Zealand’s red meat industry was announced in Wellington this morning with a goal to provide a net economic benefit of more than $500 million.

Dunedin-based meat processor Silver Fern Farms, state owned corporate farmer Landcorp and rural services and supplies company PGG Wrightson alongside the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) have presented a seven-year programme focusing on red meat consumers first and developing the products they require.

Barbecued sausages form the staple diet for many New Zealand men over summer but new research suggests eating too many of them could be harmful to your prostate health.

A large study of US men found that those who ate the most red meat and processed meat had a higher risk of developing prostate cancer and especially advanced prostate cancer.

And grilled/barbecued meats were also implicated in raising prostate cancer risk.

Those of us who eat more red meat and processed meat face a greater risk of death by heart disease and cancer, according to a new study.

Said to be the largest study to date, more than half a million American men and women between the ages of 50 and 71 participated for ten years from 1995, with the results published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

During the follow-up period 47,976 men and 23,276 women died.