relative risk in terms of a ratio: <1.0 means less, >1 means increased risk compared to the control group. E.g., one study showed that beef reduced risk of cancer by 50%, another showed that it increased risk by 500%

In the chart is beef causing cancer or preventing it?

Either, depending on which study you accept.

The question is the problem. The answer is not a yes/no, but a point on a scale of multiple dimensions. Most of these studies don’t answer the question asked here, but a completely different question. And also most of these studies don’t answer the same question. Heck, it’s even a good guess that none of these studies answers the question asked here, because it’s rather difficult to make a double blind test about such questions.

Yes.