Processed meats – such as bacon,
sausages and ham – do cause cancer, according to the World Health Organization
(WHO).
Its report said 50g of processed
meat a day – less than two slices of bacon – increased the chance of developing
colorectal cancer by 18%.
Meanwhile, it said red meats were
“probably carcinogenic” but there was limited evidence.
The WHO did stress that meat also
had health benefits.
Cancer Research UK said this was a
reason to cut down rather than give up red and processed meats.
And added that an occasional bacon
sandwich would do little harm.
What is processed meat?
Processed meat has been modified to
either extend its shelf life or change the taste and the main methods are
smoking, curing, or adding salt or preservatives.
Simply putting beef through a mincer
does not mean the resulting mince is “processed” unless it is modified further.
Processed meat includes bacon,
sausages, hot dogs, salami, corned beef, beef jerky and ham as well as canned
meat and meat-based sauces.
What is processed meat?
It is the chemicals involved in the
processing which could be increasing the risk of cancer. High temperature
cooking, such as on a barbeque, can also create carcinogenic chemicals.
How bad?
The WHO has come to the conclusion
on the advice of its International Agency for Research on Cancer, which
assesses the best available scientific evidence.
It has now placed processed meat in
the same category as plutonium, but also alcohol as they definitely do cause
cancer.
However, this does not mean they are
equally dangerous. A bacon sandwich is not as bad as smoking.
“For an individual, the risk of
developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed
meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,”
Dr Kurt Straif from the WHO said.
Estimates suggest 34,000 deaths from
cancer every year could be down to diets high in processed meat.
That is in contrast to one million
deaths from cancer caused by smoking and 600,000 attributed to alcohol each
year.
Red meat does have nutritional value
too and is a major source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
However, the WHO said there was
limited evidence that 100g of red meat a day increased the risk of cancer by
17%.
An eight ounce steak is 225g.
The WHO said its findings were
important for helping countries give balanced dietary advice.
Little harm
Prof Tim Key, from the Cancer
Research UK and the University of Oxford, said: “This decision doesn’t mean you
need to stop eating any red and processed meat, but if you eat lots of it you
may want to think about cutting down.
“Eating a bacon bap every once in a
while isn’t going to do much harm – having a healthy diet is all about
moderation.”
Dr Teresa Norat, one of the advisors
to the WHO report and from Imperial College London, said there were many
factors causing bowel cancer.
She told BBC News website: “People
should limit consumption of red meat and avoid consuming processed meat, but
they should also have a diet rich in fibre, from fruit and vegetables and
maintain an adequate body weight throughout life and limit the consumption of
alcohol and be physically active.”
The industry body the Meat Advisory
Panel said “avoiding red meat in the diet is not a protective strategy against
cancer” and said the focus should be alcohol, smoking and body weight.
Source: BBC
Comments