Meat-cancer link threat to industry
Balanced diet is the key, industry says
HEALTH: Butchers have expressed concern for the meat industry after health experts claimed processed meat such as bacon, ham and sausages can cause bowel cancer.
Red meat is “probably” carcinogenic, with associations also with pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer, a World Health Organisation report said.
BUTCHERS HAVE expressed concern for the meat industry, from farm gate to shop counter, after health experts claimed processed meat such as bacon, ham and sausages can cause bowel cancer.
Red meat is “probably” carcinogenic, with associations also with pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer, a World Health Organisation report said.
The classification given to processed meat – “carcinogenic to humans” – is the same as is given to alcohol, asbestos, arsenic and cigarettes.
Meat is classed as processed when it has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation. Examples include frankfurter sausages, ham, sausages, corned beef, canned meat and meat-based sauces.
The 22 experts, convened by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, classified the consumption of red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans” based on limited evidence that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans and “strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect”.
One possible reason is that the compound that gives red meat its colour, haem, may damage the lining of the bowel.
Dr Kurt Straif, head of the IARC’s monographs programme, said: “For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed.”
Ilkley butcher David Lishman, the national vice-chairman of the Q Guild of Butchers, said: “These scare stories are very detrimental to farmers who are having a tough time, as well as the whole meat trade.”
Robert Smith, managing director at Wetherby-based catering butchers Sykes House Farm, said: “In the EU and UK we have stringent guidelines to adhere to on the use of sulphites (preservatives) – we are miles ahead of the rest of the world. It’s all about having a healthy and balanced diet. We need red meat for iron, zinc and various vitamins.”
Mike Ward, secretary of The Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers’ Councils, added: “If you have a balanced diet you have nothing to fear.” Professor Tim Key, a Cancer Research UK epidemiologist, said: “This decision doesn’t mean you need to stop eating any red and processed meat. But if you eat lots of it you may want to think about cutting down.”
Professor Robert Pickard, from the Meat Advisory Panel, which is funded by British meat producers, said: “Red and processed meat do not give you cancer and the IARC report is not saying that eating processed meat is as harmful as smoking.”
This doesn’t mean you need to stop eating any red and processed meat.
Professor Tim Key, epidemiologist at Cancer Research UK
PUT DOWN that bacon sandwich and leave the pepperoni pizza in the freezer. According to the World Health Organisation, the health risks of eating processed meats are on a par with smoking and exposure to asbestos.
Its report, published yesterday, said 50g of processed meat a day, the equivalent of less than one sausage, increased the chance of developing bowel cancer by up to a fifth.
It warned that bacon, burgers and sausages are as big a cancer threat as cigarettes and it now ranks them alongside arsenic and asbestos.
The warning comes on the back of advice from its International Agency for Research on Cancer, which assesses the best available scientific evidence.
It means processed meat is now placed in the same category as plutonium and alcohol.
Meanwhile, the WHO said red meats such as beef, lamb and pork were “probably carcinogenic” but there was limited evidence.
So does this mean that we can no longer tuck into a BLT at lunch? That a pork pie is strictly off limits?
Not quite, says Leeds-based nutritionist Vanessa Quarmby, the selfstyled Yorkshire Dietitian.
“It’s important to put this into context as part of a balanced diet,” she says. “It’s the overall balance that matters, whether you’re getting the right amount of fruit, vegetables, fish, nuts and wholegrains. That’s more important than sensationalism about one type of food.”
Processed meat is meat that has been modified to increase its shelf-life or alter its taste – such as by smoking, curing or adding salt or preservatives.
It is these additions which could be increasing the risk of cancer.
However, Quarmby says we shouldn’t necessarily forsake our ham, pastrami, salami and other processed meats, just as long as we eat them in moderation and make up for it in other areas of our diet.
“There shouldn’t be a problem as long as people are eating plenty of fibre,” she says. “That could be from wholegrain cereals or fruit and vegetables.
“Fibre is important because it reduces the transit time for food through the gut, which then reduces the risk from nitrosamines – which are the chemical compounds which can cause cancer.”
Unfortunately, the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, which charts Britain’s eating habits, suggests only around one in six of us are eating as much fibre as we should.
The recommendation is for a daily intake of 18g – which could be achieved by eating a bowl of bran cereal for breakfast, a wholemeal sandwich with a bowl of salad for lunch, and five portions of fruit and vegetables.
“We do have a woeful lack of fibre in our diet,” agrees Vanessa Quarmby. “Instead of going to McDonalds for lunch or grabbing some fast food we should be looking to eat a piece of fruit between meals and making sure half our plate is covered in salad or vegetables.
“There are really simple things that we can do mitigate any potential health risks that come from eating red or processed meats, although it’s important to remember that they can be very good sources of iron.
“Something like black pudding, for instance, has lots of iron in it and plenty of other nutrients.”
And the World Health Organisation itself has conceded that its categorisation of processed meats alongside alcohol and cigarettes is not an indication of how much cancer they cause. It doesn’t mean eating a bacon sandwich is as bad as smoking.
“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small,” said the organsiation’s Dr Kurt Straif. “But this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed.”