Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney on Wednesday urged people not to overreact and to listen to the advice of the Food Safety Authority and the Department of Health on diet and health issues in the face of a report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) that linked eating red meat and processed meat with cancer.

“We will work with the Food Safety Authority and the Department of Health to see if there are implications from that report.

“I think that listening to most of the medical response to it from the Irish Cancer Society, from the Food Safety Authority, people are putting this report in perspective. The real message is that people need a balanced diet and that includes meats as well as lots of other elements to your diet,” the minister said.

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“I don’t think there should be an overreaction to this report but we should not ignore it either.

“Certainly we will look at it in detail and of course we will consult with the Food Safety Authority to make sure that any response is appropriate.”

Minister Coveney made his comments as he launched the €65m redevelopment of the Curragh racecourse, and said he did not believe there was any need for an EU-type risk assessment of food in the face of the WHO report.

“Everything in moderation is the message coming from this report. There are lots of dangers for people if they have too much of something. We should look at this report, we should take it seriously like any WHO report but I don’t think there should be an overreaction to it,” Minister Coveney told the Irish Farmers Journal.

In relation to processed meat, the minister concluded: “We should be careful not to categorise all processed foods into the one category. Sunshine can cause cancer as well, that doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t stand out in it. This is about moderation and people having a balanced, healthy diet and we should take our guidance and advice from the Food Safety Authority in that regard.”

Other Reaction

The minister’s comments were similar in tone to others. Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, Prof Patrick Wall from UCD’s School of Public Health and Population Sciences, said: “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.”

IFA

An IFA spokesperson said consuming recommended quantities of red meat is well recognised by medical experts as being beneficial to human health and provides the body with essential vitamins and minerals. Red meat is an important part of a balanced diet in most western societies where a plentiful supply of quality foods has added greatly to health and life expectancy.