Meat Causes Cancer? Will You Change Your Culinary Lifestyle?

“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”, said Dr Kurt Straif, Head of the IARC Monographs Programme.

If you’re eating a diet that is very rich in meat products and processed meats, it may be time to cut back, says Clinton, who’s also a member of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which advises the federal government on nutrition policy.

Did the World Health Organization (WHO) say that processed meat is as likely to cause cancer as smoking? No.

Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.

Subsequently, the World Cancer Research Fund encourages people to eat no more than 500-grams of red meat each week and little to no processed meats.

Processed meat, on the other hand, “refers to meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation”.

Klassen says that risk needs to be considered relative to the benefit of red meat, noting that beef is among the best food sources of well absorbed iron and protein.

Most processed meats contain pork or beef, but processed meats may also contain other red meats, poultry, offal, or meat by-products such as blood. Still, the WHO announcement, which the Washington Post called “one of the most aggressive stances against meat ever taken by a major health organization”, drew a strong rebuke from the USA beef industry, which has called the WHO report “dramatic and alarmist overreach”.

“It may be true, but it doesn’t mean much”, he tells OneNewsNow.

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.

“Our understanding is Canadians eat about half of that per day, so as long as you’re not eating bacon at every meal and you’re following the recommendations of Canada’s Food Guide, there’s no reason to stop eating, ” said Klassen.

“Currently, the American Cancer Society has similar recommendations to” WCRF, says Stern.

“What you are cutting down with meat bulk that up with plenty of veg or beans. But they do show that regular consumption of even small amounts of hot dogs, bacon and other processed meats increase colorectal cancer risk”. By contrast, processed meat “contributes a much more modest risk”, he says. And lung cancer isn’t the only type of cancer caused by smoking.