Charcuterie linked to cancer risk

RED meat and processed meats have a ‘definite’ cancer link, a French cancer research agency has concluded - but the agency, which is part of the World Health Organisation, said the level of risk is not known.

The Centre international de Recherche sur le Cancer (CIRC), made up of 22 experts from 10 countries, published their findings in the journal Lancet Oncology.

It concluded that there is a ‘definite’ link between eating processed meats such as hot dogs and bacon and a ‘probable’ link between unprocessed red meats like beef.

The ‘definite’ link between processed meats and cancer puts them in the same category as smoking, in that they are both now known to cause cancer.

However, while the link has been made, the level of risk is not yet known, so the comparison ends there.

The research indicates most harm from eating processed meats appears in colorectal cancers, which is where their study was focused, while smoking is known to be particularly related to lungs.

Researchers found evidence that eating 50g of processed meat every day could increase the average risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.

But while this figure seems large enough to make you look twice at a plate of charcuterie, it is worth putting into context.

The normal risk across the population for such cancers is 5%, thus eating processed meats could raise this to 6%.

The findings also demonstrate that the rise in risk is also dependent on the amount of meat you eat: the occasional treat is hardly going to make a difference.
Photo: Flickr/Edsel Little