Red meat portions in restaurants aren't much chop these days

The common practice of serving small portions of food in high-end restaurants may be coming at a cost to the local beef industry.

Data collected by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences shows red meat consumption in Australia is decreasing.

Executive director Paul Morris says people are eating less for perceived health reasons, but they're also being served less at restaurants.

"We need to get the beef producers out into the city areas promoting bigger portions and getting people eating bigger portions of meat," he said.

"But at this stage, it looks like the trends are in the other direction and that is having an impact on beef consumption in Australia."

Source: ABC News, 14 June 2012