Bernard Stewart: Meat increasing risk of cancer?

“Comparing meat to tobacco, as most news organizations who’ve chosen to report this have done, makes it seem like a bacon sandwich might be just as harmful as a cigarette”, she wrote at The Guardian.

“Promoting red meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet is important to the red meat industry and we are guided by the Australian dietary guidelines”, the statement said. In a few places, up to 100% of people eat red meat.

In addition, when meat is preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by adding preservatives, cancer-causing substances – called carcinogens – can be formed.

The study states that due to their link to cancer processed meats are in the same category as plutonium and smoking, but that doesn’t mean all meat should be off limits.

“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer due to their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed”.

The evaluation revealed “strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect” for red meat consumption – mainly for cancer of the colon and rectum, but also the pancreas and prostate, said the agency based in Lyon, France.

He also pointed out vegetarians were found to have the same rate of bowel cancer as meat eaters in one of the biggest studies of its kind in the United Kingdom carried out by Oxford University.

“The scientific evidence does not support a cause or link between any type of red or processed meat and any type of cancer”, says Dr. Shalene McNeill with the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. He says as long as people aren’t eating bacon at every meal and are following Canada’s Food Guide, there’s no reason to stop eating meat.

“We can not condemn red meats all together because they are a good source of iron and zinc minerals to the body”.

About 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide can be attributed to diets that are high in processed meat, according to the WHO.

The review, set to be published today, reportedly classes processed meat, which includes bacon, ham and sausages, with the highest carcinogenic risk rating.