Red meat intake-induced increases in fecal water genotoxicity correlate with pro-carcinogenic gene expression changes in the human colon

► Fecal water genotoxicity significantly increased after an increase in red meat intake to 300 g/day for 7 days. ► Oxidative DNA damage is a large contributor to the overall level of fecal water genotoxicity following a red meat diet. ► The red meat diet did not increase endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds. ► Fecal water genotoxicity was transcriptomically correlated with pathways indicative of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. ► Our results corroborate the genotoxic and potentially carcinogenic effect of diets high in red meat in the human colon.