Industry rebels ahead of report declaring red and processed — World Health Organization cancer report

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has warned for a number of years that there is “strong evidence” that eating a lot of red meat can cause bowel cancer.

One possible reason is the organic pigment that gives red meat its colour, known as haem, may damage the lining of the bowel.

But the Department of Health says red meat can be part of a healthy diet. This includes sausages, bacon, ham, salami and pâtés.

Despite a small amount of red meat having positive health benefits due to the presence of iron, protein, zinc, B-vitamins and vitamin-A, a high intake of red meat, especially processed products, was risky.

Ms Greig said the report needed to be put into perspective.

“In the meantime, official advice is that people should consume no more than 70g a day on average – for example, a couple of sausages or rashers of bacon”.

A nephrologist yesterday said eating too much processed meat might lead to higher risks of colon cancer as a British newspaper reported that the World Health Organization is to declare processed meat carcinogenic.

The American Cancer Society is not commenting on the research yet, but they’ve recommended for a long time that people limit their consumption of red and processed meats.

“Significant associations with processed meat intake were observed for cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and “other causes of death”, the study found.

“Billions of dollars have been spent on studies all over the world, and no single food has ever been proven to cause or cure cancer” Mcneill said.

“The top priorities for cancer prevention remain smoking cessation, maintenance of normal body weight and avoidance of high alcohol intakes”.

WHO’s worldwide Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) will release their findings in Monday’s edition of The Lancet Oncology, according to the reports.

More than 400 have been identified as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, or possibly carcinogenic to humans.