World Health Organization links processed meat to cancer — and vegetarians get smug on Twitter

No ifs or buts about it – The World Health Organization says processed meats like hot dogs and bacon cause cancer.

The finding supports “recommendations to limit intake of meat” – particularly in processed forms, the IARC said.

“In view of the large number of people who consume processed meat, the global impact on cancer incidence is of public health importance”, he said.

Dr Kurt Straif, from the worldwide Agency for Research on Cancer, said: “For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer due to their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed”.

A few studies show people who eat a lot of processed meat may have double the colon cancer risk as those who don’t eat any.

And despite a few media reports, the IARC says the fact that processed meats have been ranked as carcinogenic to humans along with tobacco smoking and asbestos does not mean that they are all equally unsafe.

After thoroughly reviewing the accumulated scientific literature, the working group of 22 experts from ten countries classified processed meat as carcinogenic to humans “based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer”. Eating red meat was also linked to pancreatic and prostate cancer, it said.

According to the Global Burden of Disease Project, an approximate 34,000 of the 1 million cancer deaths per year are allegedly related to diets high in processed meat consumption.

This is not shocking news since limiting red meat within the American diet has been recommended for quite a few time because of its link to cancer.

Studies show that meat processing techniques and cooking it at high temperatures can lead to the formation of carcinogenic chemicals.

Hall said he ultimately isn’t too concerned about the study’s findings. “However, these experts also understand that this report did not look at the benefits of meat consumption”, Hormel said in a press statement.

A BBC report on Monday, October 26, defined processed meat as meat that “has been modified to increase its shelf-life or alter its taste – such as by smoking, curing or adding salt or preservatives”.

After years of talk and research, the truth has finally come to light with the determination that processed meats, such as hot dogs and bacon do cause cancer.

Eating bacon and salami isn’t as bad as puffing away on cigarettes.

“That interpretation would be wrong”.