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W.H.O. report on Monday warned about a cancer risk linked with eating
processed meats. Credit Ángel Franco/The New York Times. email; Share;
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On Monday the International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of
the World Health Organization, published an analysis linking colorectal
cancer to the consumption of processed meats and red meat. Here are answers to a few questions about the report.
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How might meats be linked to colorectal cancer?Processed meats like hot dogs and sausages have been salted, cured or smoked to enhance flavor and improve preservation. Scientists have long worried that this processing leads to the formation of potentially carcinogenic chemicals like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in these products.
The concern with red meats — beef, pork and lamb — has more to do with the cooking, not the processing. Grilling, barbecuing and pan-frying meat creates potential carcinogens, including heterocyclic aromatic amines.
The report finds a link between consumption of processed meats and colorectal cancer (and perhaps other cancers), but also acknowledged that the link between red meat and cancer has not been proved.
“Eating red meat has not yet been established as a cause of cancer,” the I.A.R.C. said in a handout accompanying its report. -
Is there a safer way to cook meat?There is just not enough data to know for sure whether broiling or boiling meats might lower cancer risk.
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What exactly is the risk?Small, compared with smoking or alcohol consumption. Colorectal cancer is the third most common non-skin cancer in the United States, and will be diagnosed in an estimated 133,000 patients this year, a wide majority of them over age 50. The lifetime risk is about 5 percent.
W.H.O. estimated that 50 grams daily of processed meat or 100 grams daily of red meat might increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent and 17 percent, in that order, over the absolute risk — if indeed red meat were related to cancer at all, which the report also acknowledged is not known.
Most of the data reviewed by the W.H.O. are drawn from population studies, and many experts question whether these risk estimates can be applied to individuals who may have other risks for colorectal cancer. -
Is there any way to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer?There are several ways. People who eat diets rich in fruits, vegetables and fiber are at lower risk, as are those who exercise. Obesity, smoking and heavy alcohol consumption increase the risk of colorectal cancer. The incidence has been declining for 20 years, in part because of colonoscopy screenings. Daily low-dose aspirin may reduce the risk, but it has side effects and most experts do not recommend its use in people at average risk who do not also have cardiovascular disease.
end quote from:
Meat and Cancer: The WHO Report and What You Need to Know
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