TABLE 2.
Overview of muscle food category specificity and description scales with examples from a systematic review and landscape analysis assessing muscle food categorization and descriptions in chronic disease literature
| Scale | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinal muscle food category resolution scale | ||
| 1 | Broad or undescriptive category | “Meat” (5)1 |
| 2 | Type of meat | “Red meat” (6) |
| 3 | Species-specific | “Beef” (7) |
| 4 | Broad category plus 1 descriptor2 | “Processed meat” (8) |
| 5 | Type or species plus 1 descriptor | “Fresh red meat” (9) |
| 6 | Broad, type, or species with ≥2 descriptors | “Poached lean fish” (10) |
| 7 | Specific product | “Luncheon meats” (11) |
| Discrete muscle food description factor scale | ||
| 1 | One factor in a description3 | “Beef, lamb, and pork” (12)1 |
| 2 | Two factors in a description | “All types of cold cuts, bacon, ham, hotdogs, and sausages from red and white meats” (13) |
| 3 | Three factors in a description | “Cooked lean red meat with all visible fat removed” (14) |
| 4 | Four factors in a description | “Select grade top round, chuck shoulder pot roast and 95% lean ground beef” or “prepared via braising, grilling, or frying (95% lean ground beef only)” (7) |
| 5 | Five factors in a description | “Poultry (chicken, cold cuts, ground, turkey), fish (fresh, frozen, canned), and low-fat hotdogs and sausages, which are usually made from turkey” (15) |
References correspond to the article reference list and are examples of descriptions used by researchers in observational studies and randomized controlled trials identified in this systematic review.
"Descriptors" included leanness, degree of processing, origin, size, or cooking method.
Descriptive factors included the following: 1) species, e.g., “beef” or “chicken”; 2) specific cut or product, e.g., “sirloin” or “ham”; 3) food dish, e.g., “mixed dish”; 4) processing method, e.g., “salted” or “cured”; 5) muscle food type, e.g., “white meat” or “fish”; 6) specification of fat content or using a description of leanness; 7) nonspecific or broad description, e.g., “all meat” or “total meat”; 8) cooking method or doneness; 9) preparation method, e.g., “sliced” or “ground”; 10) quality grade, e.g., “choice” or “select”; 11) geographical origin or location; 12) animal specification, e.g., animal age; 13) phrases, e.g., “processed” or “other.”