It’s official: Ham, sausage and other processed meats can lead to colon, stomach and other cancers – and red meat is probably cancer-causing, too.
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For every 50 gram of processed meat eaten daily, the risk for colorectal cancer rises by 18 percent compared to those who won’t eat it, the ministry said, quoting global cancer experts.
“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer due to their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed”, said Dr Kurt Straif, head of the IARC Monographs Programme.
The researchers, 22 experts from 10 different countries, have found that red meat is “probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A)”, although based on limited evidence. The studies looked at more than a dozen types of cancer in populations with diverse diets over the past 20 years.
Leigh Ann Burns, Registered Dietician with the LSU Health Sciences Center, says meats that are transformed to improve its flavor or preserve it are included in this category. “When they can see it it makes it more real”, said Atwood. As well, the IARC also defined unprocessed red meat as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
The World Health Organization even placed processed meats in the same category as tobacco and arsenic saying eating meats like SPAM and bacon increase the risk of a few cancers.
The Health Ministry has issued a statement disagreeing with the World Health Organization that claimed eating processed meat was “as risky as smoking”.
“Those things have caused people concern for a while about being associated with things like heart disease, diabetes and cancers”, Quinlisk said.
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Vincent said she generally tells her patients to limit the intake of processed meats and eat more vegetables, nuts and other foods which are healthier for you. They said that people in Mediterranean ate processed meat, but the ratio of people suffering from cancer was bbery low. “It is not yet fully understood” how cancer risk was increased, the agency added-speculating about the potential role of chemicals that form during meat processing or cooking.
