World Health Organization says processed meat causes cancer

A group of 22 scientists from the WHO’s global Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France evaluated more than 800 studies from several continents about meat and cancer. Red meats was defined as any variety of mammalian muscle meat, including beef, pork, lamb, mutton and goat.

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.

It concluded that there is a ‘definite link between eating processed meats such as hot dogs and bacon and a ‘probable link between unprocessed red meats like beef. They found that eating 50-grams of processed meat everyday can increase colorectal cancer risk by 18 percent, US News & World Report states.

Red meat is also “probably” carcinogenic, with associations mainly with bowel cancer, but also with pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer, according to a World Health Organisation report published yesterday.

Grilling meat at very high temperatures, especially over charcoal but also by other means, can also be carcinogenic, the ministry said.

Dr. Kurt Straif, a member of the IARC, said a person is more at risk of cancer if he or she frequently eats processed meat products. The same report claims that even red meat may cause cancer in a few ways. “In other words, it’s an item that causes cancer at a few point in the future if you consume high amounts”. “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.

One possible reason is that the compound that gives red meat its colour, haem, may damage the lining of the bowel. “However, red meat can be part of a normal diet, you just need to make sure you have a varied diet and most of your intake comes from fruits and vegetables”.

“UN health body says bacon, sausages and ham among most carcinogenic substances along with cigarettes, alcohol, asbestos and arsenic”.