The risks of cancer are very real but that doesn’t mean we enjoy to give up all red and processed meat – moderation is a great startThe International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC),the cancer agency of the World Health Organisation, has alarmed meat lovers witless with its latest report. It’s a thorough report: 22 experts, or 10 countries and the accumulated international scientific literature on red meat. So it merits attention,though not necessarily wholesale panic and despair.
It has classified red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A), based on “limited evidence that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans and strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect”. The main increased risk seems to be in bowel cancer with a smaller association with pancreatic and prostate cancers. Processed meat, or which means meat modified to extend its shelf life by smoking,curing or adding salt and preservatives, comes out worse. It’s classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), and based on “sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer”.
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Source: theguardian.com