“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,” said Dr Kurt Straif, head of the IARC monographs programme.
This does not have the same headline-grabbing ability as classifying processed meat alongside smoking, asbestos or arsenic.
Putting a food product in the same category of cancer-causing threat as asbestos, arsenic, alcohol and smoking is misleading to the vast majority of people.
With global news coverage, this simple soundbite will reach most people, but a tiny number will bother to read the report and understand the detail or methodology used. The industry, as might be expected, is pushing back hard, quoting alternative science and disputing the relevance of the report’s findings − but that will be of little assurance to consumers.
Balance
Keeping a sense of proportion and balance is important and this is perfectly demonstrated by Professor Patrick Wall from UCD’s School of Public Health and Population Sciences.
Professor Wall told the Irish Farmers Journal: “Risk assessment undertaken in isolation of risk benefit analysis needs to be interpreted with caution. The quality of diet is inextricably linked to health, both in humans and animals. Most of us are eating too much and moderation in everything is the solution.
“A balanced diet ensures we get all the macro- and micro-nutrients we need. Processed food should be consumed in moderation, whether it is confectionary or salami. The old adage of you are what you eat is as true now as it has ever been.”
Sound and sensible arguments are what people really need; not stark lines proclaiming the dangers of industrial quantities of either chocolate or bacon.
Looking closer at the report, a 50-year-old man has 0.68% risk of getting colorectal cancer in next 10 years; eating processed meat increases it to 0.8%. The line that eating processed meat can increase the risk of cancer by 18% is correct, but only in that context.
Read more
No definitive cancer risk from red meat
WHO: Processed meat “Carcinogenic to humans”
“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,” said Dr Kurt Straif, head of the IARC monographs programme.
This does not have the same headline-grabbing ability as classifying processed meat alongside smoking, asbestos or arsenic.
Putting a food product in the same category of cancer-causing threat as asbestos, arsenic, alcohol and smoking is misleading to the vast majority of people.
With global news coverage, this simple soundbite will reach most people, but a tiny number will bother to read the report and understand the detail or methodology used. The industry, as might be expected, is pushing back hard, quoting alternative science and disputing the relevance of the report’s findings − but that will be of little assurance to consumers.
Balance
Keeping a sense of proportion and balance is important and this is perfectly demonstrated by Professor Patrick Wall from UCD’s School of Public Health and Population Sciences.
Professor Wall told the Irish Farmers Journal: “Risk assessment undertaken in isolation of risk benefit analysis needs to be interpreted with caution. The quality of diet is inextricably linked to health, both in humans and animals. Most of us are eating too much and moderation in everything is the solution.
“A balanced diet ensures we get all the macro- and micro-nutrients we need. Processed food should be consumed in moderation, whether it is confectionary or salami. The old adage of you are what you eat is as true now as it has ever been.”
Sound and sensible arguments are what people really need; not stark lines proclaiming the dangers of industrial quantities of either chocolate or bacon.
Looking closer at the report, a 50-year-old man has 0.68% risk of getting colorectal cancer in next 10 years; eating processed meat increases it to 0.8%. The line that eating processed meat can increase the risk of cancer by 18% is correct, but only in that context.
Read more
No definitive cancer risk from red meat
WHO: Processed meat “Carcinogenic to humans”
SHARING OPTIONS