american restaurant association president and commodity strategist david maloney says that's probablyse we've heard about the potential linkage between meat and cancer before. >> the fact that we didn't see an initial sharp reaction, especially in something like cattle futures, which have been on a pretty good run as of late, are actually due for a short-term correction lower. that we did not see a major reaction by stock prices, it only fuels my initial reaction that the response to this will not be long-standing. >> reporter: however, if consumers take the warning to heart and pull back on meat consumption, it could spell big trouble for the meat industry. for farmers, meat producers, and even shake up the global meat trade balance. the north american meat institute says the meat industry contributes almost $900 billion to the u.s. economy. beef alone is a $95 billion a year business in the u.s., which is the world's largest producer and importer of beef in the world according to the usda. a separate group of international researchers are putting the statistics into perspective. glo