Cut meat to 500g ‘and be cancer free’
PEOPLE should cut out processed meat such as bacon, ham and salami and reduce red meat consumption to under 500g a week if they want to prevent cancer, a major new report has urged.
The World Cancer Research Fund has analysed 7,000 studies of international research into the links between lifestyle and cancer and come up with 10 key recommendations on how to avoid the disease.
Number one of these is for people to be as slim as possible without becoming underweight -- and it also urges people not to drink sugary soft drinks and to consume fast foods sparingly, if at all.
But its newest finding is that people should avoid all processed meat such as bacon, ham, salami and some sausages on the basis that no amount of these "can be confidently shown not to increase risk" of bowel cancer.
However, the Irish authorities took a softer line, with healthy eating body Safefood urging people to eat these meats "sparingly" rather than cut them out.
Given that half the meat eaten in Ireland is processed, it would be more practical to try and shift people's behaviour in the right direction rather than advocate such a drastic step that would not succeed, said Safefood Nutritionist Dr Marian Faughnan.
And as many Irish women and children do not get enough iron in their diets, moderate amounts of iron-rich lean red meat should still be eaten, Safefood said, noting that they would be studying the findings of this comprehensive report in greater detail.
Food Safety Authority of Ireland chief executive Dr John O'Brien said the new report was "radical" and zero consumption of processed meats would be a difficult goal to achieve, although the other recommendations were broadly in line with their current advice. Bord Bia, which promotes sales of Irish meat, said they would monitor the impact of this study on trade, and would take their lead on health messages from Safefood.
The Irish Farmers Association said they felt consumers knew the value of meat in a balanced diet and would hope they continued to eat it in the right quantities.
The WCRF report was compiled over six years, and some 7,000 scientific studies into cancer were analysed by 21 world-renowned scientists.
It found convincing evidence that excess body fat could cause six types of common cancer, including those of the breast, bowel and pancreas.
And although people with a Body Mass Index (BMI)of between 18.5 and 25 are described as having a healthy weight, the report found that it was better to be at the lower end of the scale because cancer risk increases the closer BMI gets to 25.
- Aideen Sheehan Consumer Affairs Correspondent
