Processed meat is defined by the World Health Organization as any type of meat that is transformed through salting, curing, fermentation or smoking to enhance its flavour or improve its preservation.
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“Red meat such as beef and lamb is a critical, natural source of iron and zinc, vitamin B12 and omega-3 – essential nutrients needed to keep the body and brain functioning well”, it said in a statement.
The IARC’s cancer warning is the latest on a long list of troubles for the meat industry: from salmonella and “mad cow” scares, to dietary fat blamed for disease-causing high cholesterol and livestock methane emissions contributing to global warming. “I think scientists have been trying to link red meat to cancer for years and only off of observation studies”.
Why do they think these are risky to our health? In red meat, cooking can also produce suspected carcinogens – in this case heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAA) and PAH. The IARC’s report, published in Lancet Oncology, notes that “high-temperature cooking by pan-frying, grilling or barbequeing generally produces the highest amounts of these chemicals”. “I’m strictly pretty much a meat and potatoes guy”. What do I do now? “Red meat has a valuable role within a healthy, balanced diet thanks to its high-protein content and rich nutritional composition”.
“Cancer Research United Kingdom supports IARC’s decision that there’s strong enough evidence to classify processed meat as a cause of cancer, and red meat as a probable cause of cancer”, said Prof Tim Key, Cancer Research UK’s epidemiologist at the University of Oxford.
The 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines attempted to balance these contradictory health messages by suggesting that people limit red meat consumption to 450 grams per week – substantially less than the 700 g/w that Australian men now consume on average.
“And the sort of harm you can come to from slipping on a banana skin isn’t generally as severe as, say, being in a auto accident”, Prof Phillips said.
That’s what Willett does, and he forgoes processed meats altogether. “A BLT is really a wonderful thing”. These people may have other unhealthy habits like exercising less that elevate their risk of cancer. Nestle emphasised that “you don’t need a special diet for cancer”.
“Is everything we eat associated with cancer?” a much noted 2012 paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition asked.
She also said that people should not reduce their meat intake.
But what’s the bottom line.
In recent years, meat consumption has been the target of multifaceted social criticism, with debates erupting not just over its role on human health but the impact of feedlots on the environment and on animal welfare. Once a week? Once a month? It depends on what the rest of your diet looks like, how often you exercise, your genes and a whole slew of other factors.
Dr. Kurt Straif, head of IARC monographs program, said that a person’s risk of having colorectal cancer from eating processed meat was relatively small.
But American Cancer Society’s Gapsur emphasised in an interview that “we don’t know if there is any perfectly safe level”. But it said the risk rises with the amount consumed. “The best we can recommend is decreasing your consumption”.
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It’s based on “sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer”.
