The World Health Organization publication was based on 800 studies, which concluded that there were “sufficient indications according to which the consumption of processed meat provoked colorectal cancer“.
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“This was based primarily on strong evidence that consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer”, said Dr. Kurt Straif, with the research arm of WHO.
The association between red meat and cancer was observed mainly for colorectal cancer, but associations were also seen for pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer, it said.
However, Suya is processed red meat, and when prepared, it is seasoned with salt, pepper and groundnut powder.
NATIONALS MP Barnaby Joyce has ridiculed a major health report linking cancer to processed meat including bacon and sausages. According to the research, red and processed meats were significant risk factors for bowel cancer.
Red meat, under which the IARC includes beef, lamb and pork, was classified as a “probable” carcinogen in its group 2A list that also contains glyphosate, the active ingredient in many weedkillers.
W.H.O.’s worldwide Agency for Research on Cancer put out the report that these meats may increase cancer risk.
The risks arise from chemicals produced by processing the meats and from cooking.
The North American Meat Institute is calling the report “dramatic and alarmist” – and argues that cancer is a complex disease “not caused by single foods”.
“If you got everything that the World Health Organisation says is carcinogenic and took it out of your daily requirements, you are heading back to a cave”.
For its part, the WHO said red meat still has “nutritional value” but added that its finding is important for public health because processed meat is so widely consumed.
It does not mean that processed meat, smoking and asbestos are all equally risky, as classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence about an agent being a cause of cancer, rather than assessing the level of risk.
“Processed meat is raw meat that has been transformed by any of several methods including curing, salting, smoking and also fermentation”.
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When it comes to bacon, Lisa Trama says on a scale of one to 10, her love for it is “probably about an eight”.
