There was also a few evidence that eating red meat, including beef, pork and lamb, can cause cancer in the colon, prostate or pancreas, the WHO’s global Agency for Research on Cancer said in the report.
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About 50g of processed meat a day increases the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that processed meat can cause the development of cancer.
After thoroughly reviewing the accumulated scientific literature, a working group of 22 experts from 10 countries convened by the IARC Monographs Programme found that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans.
Based on that evaluation, the IARC classified processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans”, noting links in particular to colon cancer.
But, she adds, red meat can still be good for you. Well, all canned meat, that include sausages, ham, corned beef and the like can be termed as processed meat. The IARC analyzed many years of research on processed meats and cancer and has issued a very definitive statement that puts processed meats in the same risk category as smoking or asbestos.
Processed meat was defined as meat transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking “or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation”. “It’s that you shouldn’t eat a lot of meat or especially processed meat every day”, said Dr. Susan Whiting, a professor of nutrition and dietetics with the University of Saskatchewan.
“This is the first time the World Health Organization or any other organization has come out strongly and said processed meats are a carcinogen. They saw an increased risk of colo-rectal cancer… that was the most notable increased risk”.
It says that the most important goal is to try and eat a balanced diet.
Meat producers are angry, vegetarians are feeling vindicated, and cancer experts are welcoming the most comprehensive pronouncement yet on the relation between our modern meat-eating lifestyles and cancer.
Meat industry groups protest the classification.
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Inconclusive evidence of a link between processed meat and stomach cancer was also observed, it said.
