WHO Clarifies Processed Meat and Cancer                                                               November 2015

 

 

 

World Health Organization, WHO,  released a statement that processed meat as a human carcinogen ― in the same category as tobacco and asbestos, cause cancer.

 

It pointed out that the latest report from the International Agency of Cancer Research (IACR), issued last week, "does not ask people to stop eating processed meats"; rather, it indicated "that reducing consumption of these products can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer."

 

A major point made in the WHO Q&A document is that although processed meats have now been classified as carcinogenic to humans (IACR Group 1), and although this category also includes tobacco and asbestos and other substances, the WHO pointed out that the substances in this classification are not "all equally dangerous."

 

According to the most recent estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project, an independent academic research organization, about 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are attributable to diets high in processed meat; red meat could be responsible for 50,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.

 

In contrast, about 1 million cancer deaths per year globally are due to tobacco smoking, 600,000 per year are due to alcohol consumption, and more than 200,000 per year are due to air pollution, the WHO points out.