"There is linoleic acid in red meat." There is. Let's see how much, compared to some alternatives. Linoleic acid per 100g: - Grass-finished beef: 80mg - Grain-finished beef: 220mg - Chicken thigh: 2,000mg - Pork belly: 2,800mg - Walnuts: 38,000mg - Corn/soy/sunflower oil: 52,000–65,000mg The reason grain-fed beef is still that low, despite eating corn for months, is that the cow has a rumen. Four stomachs and a vat of specialised microorganisms that biohydrogenate dietary polyunsaturated fats, converting linoleic acid into stearic acid before it ever reaches the animal's tissues. The rumen does not care what the cow ate. It processes it anyway. You can feed a cow grain, sunflower seeds, and rapeseed, and it still arrives at the plate with a linoleic acid content that makes chicken look like sunflower oil. The comment was technically correct. Approximately as relevant as noting that the Thames contains water, and therefore swimming in it is the same as drinking bleach. It is not. The cow protects you whether she meant to or not.