Processed meat is carcinogenic, red meat might as well

RED toothed carnivores and all round salad haters were dealt a colossal blow after the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that processed meats – such as bacon, sausages and ham – rank alongside cigarettes as a major cause of cancer.

The IARC group considered more than 800 studies that investigated associations of more than a dozen types of cancer with the consumption of red meat or processed meat in many countries and populations with diverse diets.

“There is sufficient evidence in human beings for the carcinogenicity of the consumption of processed meat”, the group concluded in its statement. Red meat has been classified as “probably” carcinogenic. “Scientific evidence shows cancer is a complex disease not caused by single foods and that a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle choices are essential to good health”.

Not all meat is processed meat, but it is best to maintain a plant based diet, especially when fighting cancer, said Cynthia Thomson, director of the University of Arizona Canyon ranch Center for Prevention and Health Promotion.

Processed meat is meat that has been modified to increase its shelf-life or alter its taste – such as by smoking, curing or adding salt or preservatives.

It also says there is “strong evidence” that processed meats – even in smaller quantities – increase cancer risk.

Processed meat as the new tobacco.

That means 166 out of every 100,000 Aussies who will die of cancer this year, 4.5 of those deaths can be attributed to eating red meat, which accords with WHO’s assessment that the risk remains low. But they didn’t necessarily come out and say that it caused cancer.

The agency said it did not have enough data to define how much processed meat is too unsafe, but said the risk grows with the amount consumed.

“If you are eating red meat on a daily basis or multiple times a day that’s probably where you at least need to think about ‘should I really cut down”, Samadder said.

The site mentioned that in 2014, Australia topped the list of having the highest meat consumption in the world.

Since so many of us love to grill out, how much red meat should we be eating? The IARC said that processed meat has links with bowel cancer while the red meat has links to pancreatic and prostate cancer.