Processed Meats Cause Cancer, Says the U.N. Report

Different types of processed meats (Photo courtesy: timthumb.php)

Bacon (Photo courtesy: newsmax.com)

Sausage (Photo courtesy: lancastri.net)

Red Meat (Photo courtesy: home.bt.com)

Deli Meat (Photo courtesy: blogs.webmd.com)

The cancer research section of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations Organization, reported on October 26, has determined that "the consumption of processed meats like hotdogs, sausages and meat-based sauces causes colorectal cancer, while eating red meat like beef, pork and lamb is 'probably carcinogenic to humans,' " reports the UN News Centre in New York. 

The report also says, "After receiving the accumulated scientific literature, a working group of 22 experts from 10 countries convened by the IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer), processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer." 

It further says, "Processed meat refers to meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation. Most processed meats contain pork or beef, but processed meats may also contain other red meats, poultry, offal, or meat by-products such as blood."

The agency said "examples of processed meat include hotdogs, or frankfurters, ham, sausages, corned beef, and biltong or beef jerky, as well as canned meat and meat-based preparations and sauces." 

For further reading on this subject, please visit the following websites:

• New UN report links processed meats to cancer in humans; red meat also likely to cause the disease (un.org)
• Processed meats do cause cancer -- WHO (BBC)
• Red, processed meats cause cancer, UN verdict (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Processed meat causes cancer, says WHO (CNN)
• Hot dogs, bacon and other processed meats cause cancer World Health Organization declares (The Washington Post)
• Why eating red meat raises cancer risk? (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
• Junk food: bad for your health, bad for your rights (un.org)
• If meat causes cancer, what can we eat? (CNN)
• Meat industry braces for WHO cancer risk verdict (cbc.ca)
• Doctors Seek to Ban Hot Dogs and Other Processed Meats from School Lunches; Federal Petition filed with USDA (pcrm.org)