The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluated the carcinogenicity of consumption of red meat and processed meat. The results have been published in the journal The Lancet Oncology and are very conclusive: processed meats increase the risk of cancer. Specifically, the WHO has warned that consuming 50 grams of processed meat per day increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18% and to a lesser extent of pancreas and prostate.
Researchers from 10 different countries analyzed more than 800 studies concluding that the consumption of red meat was a “probable human carcinogen” and that processed meat was “human carcinogen”, without mitigation.
“For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer from consuming processed meat is still small , but it increases with the amount of meat consumed,” explains Kurt Straif, head of the IARC Monograph Program.
What foods are included in processed meat?
Anything that has been transformed through fermentation, smoking, salting … such as bacon, corned beef, sausages or hamburgers.
Why does the risk of cancer increase?
During meat processing or transformation, carcinogenic chemicals such as N-nitroso compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are generated. Cooking this meat also produces heterocyclic aromatic amines and other chemicals including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, present, for example, in polluted air.
These results do not mean that we should stop eating meat. However, the World Health Organization states that “many of the national recommendations advise people to limit the consumption of processed meat and red meat, since both are linked to an increased risk of death from heart disease, diabetes and other pathologies ”.
