No proof red and processed meats cause cancer: study

PEOPLE should continue to enjoy steak, sausages and bacon, experts have said, as they claimed there is no proof red and processed meats cause cancer.

In a controversial move, a team of researchers branded the evidence linking red meat with serious health problems as weak, saying people should carry on as they are, enjoying three to four portions of red and processed meat per week on average.

Their new guidance flies in the face of recommendations from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), which has told people to avoid processed meat or eat very little of it, while limiting red meat to about three portions a week.

The WCRF gathered a team, including from the World Health Organisation (WHO), to hit back at the latest findings, saying there is good evidence of a link between red and processed meat and bowel cancer.

At present, the Department of Health and Social Care recommends that anyone who eats more than 90g of red or processed meat per day should try to cut down to 70g or less.

In 2015, the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said consumption of red meat is “probably carcinogenic” to humans, whereas processed meat is considered “carcinogenic”.

In the new study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a team of international experts said those claims were based on low-quality evidence. They came to the same conclusion about the risks from eating red and processed meat as other researchers, but said the findings were so weak they did not warrant people being told to cut down.