World Health Organization Links Red Meat to Cancer - Time to Eat Less and Eat Better
Americans' love affair with meat - we already knew - has some supersized impacts on the environment, from its intensive use of water to the enormous carbon footprint, as well as our nutritional health.
And today we learned more about its supersized impact on public health. Eating processed meats like bacon and hot dogs causes bowel cancer, while eating red meat (including beef and veal, pork, goat and lamb) probably is carcinogenic to humans. That's the conclusion of the World Health Organization's authoritative International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which classifies red meat as a Group 2a carcinogen. The findings were published in the journal Lancet Oncology.
Processed meat was classified as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans - the strongest possible designation, like tobacco and asbestos. The classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence, not the potency of the carcinogen. WHO's analysis estimates that for every 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily, the risk of bowel cancer rises by about 18%.
A Group 2a classification means there is strong evidence from studies in animals to label red meat as probably cancer-causing, combined with limited evidence from human studies that also shows eating red meat to be positively associated with developing bowel cancer in the colon or rectum. There also is science linking red meat consumption with prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. Cancers of the colon and rectum are the 2nd most common cause of cancer-related deaths in American men and women, with nearly 50,000 deaths expected in 2015.
These are WHO's two highest cancer classifications. The risk rises with the amount of meat consumed. It would not be good medicine to wait longer before strongly advising the public to eat less red meat, especially less processed meat. WHO recommendations also include eating diets higher in whole grains and vegetables and limiting red and processed meats because of evidence that dietary fiber protects against cancer.
Luckily, the WHO's ruling comes on the heels of a growing trend toward eating less and better meat in America. American red meat consumption has already dropped about 25% since the mid-1970s. But Americans, on average, still eat about 1.9 lbs of red meat per week - approaching double the E.U.-recommended amount of no more than 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of cooked red meat per week.
Yet, if history is any guide, Big Meat will likely resist the new IARC classification and try to undermine the well-considered opinions of nutrition and health experts.
Happily, Big Meat doesn't represent the entire industry, so when people eat red meat, they can also make better choices. Producers of better meat are meeting an increasing share of the red meat consumed today—meat from well-stewarded farms and ranches, from animals raised more humanely and with no or reduced hormones and antibiotics.
How red meat is produced is a major health issue for the animals, of course, but also for people. Recent announcements by meat and restaurant companies, including Subway, underscore what the CDC, NRDC, and others have long maintained - giving human antibiotics routinely to healthy animals has helped create a superbug problem. And that's a problem we can no longer ignore or tolerate.
Companies like Panera and Chipotle show that this approach to buying meat can be good for public health and business. While sales of conventional meat are flat or declining, sales of healthier, more sustainably-produced meats are up.
And because meat products can be some of the most resource intensive to produce, eating less - and more sustainably raised - meat can reduce the impact of the conventional meat industry on our land, water, air and climate.
The bottom line is to eat less and eat better meat. Better for you, better for the planet. With Thanksgiving approaching, that's a change for which we could all be thankful.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Americans' love affair with meat - we already knew - has some supersized impacts on the environment, from its intensive use of water to the enormous carbon footprint, as well as our nutritional health.
And today we learned more about its supersized impact on public health. Eating processed meats like bacon and hot dogs causes bowel cancer, while eating red meat (including beef and veal, pork, goat and lamb) probably is carcinogenic to humans. That's the conclusion of the World Health Organization's authoritative International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which classifies red meat as a Group 2a carcinogen. The findings were published in the journal Lancet Oncology.
Processed meat was classified as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans - the strongest possible designation, like tobacco and asbestos. The classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence, not the potency of the carcinogen. WHO's analysis estimates that for every 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily, the risk of bowel cancer rises by about 18%.
A Group 2a classification means there is strong evidence from studies in animals to label red meat as probably cancer-causing, combined with limited evidence from human studies that also shows eating red meat to be positively associated with developing bowel cancer in the colon or rectum. There also is science linking red meat consumption with prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. Cancers of the colon and rectum are the 2nd most common cause of cancer-related deaths in American men and women, with nearly 50,000 deaths expected in 2015.
These are WHO's two highest cancer classifications. The risk rises with the amount of meat consumed. It would not be good medicine to wait longer before strongly advising the public to eat less red meat, especially less processed meat. WHO recommendations also include eating diets higher in whole grains and vegetables and limiting red and processed meats because of evidence that dietary fiber protects against cancer.
Luckily, the WHO's ruling comes on the heels of a growing trend toward eating less and better meat in America. American red meat consumption has already dropped about 25% since the mid-1970s. But Americans, on average, still eat about 1.9 lbs of red meat per week - approaching double the E.U.-recommended amount of no more than 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of cooked red meat per week.
Yet, if history is any guide, Big Meat will likely resist the new IARC classification and try to undermine the well-considered opinions of nutrition and health experts.
Happily, Big Meat doesn't represent the entire industry, so when people eat red meat, they can also make better choices. Producers of better meat are meeting an increasing share of the red meat consumed today—meat from well-stewarded farms and ranches, from animals raised more humanely and with no or reduced hormones and antibiotics.
How red meat is produced is a major health issue for the animals, of course, but also for people. Recent announcements by meat and restaurant companies, including Subway, underscore what the CDC, NRDC, and others have long maintained - giving human antibiotics routinely to healthy animals has helped create a superbug problem. And that's a problem we can no longer ignore or tolerate.
Companies like Panera and Chipotle show that this approach to buying meat can be good for public health and business. While sales of conventional meat are flat or declining, sales of healthier, more sustainably-produced meats are up.
And because meat products can be some of the most resource intensive to produce, eating less - and more sustainably raised - meat can reduce the impact of the conventional meat industry on our land, water, air and climate.
The bottom line is to eat less and eat better meat. Better for you, better for the planet. With Thanksgiving approaching, that's a change for which we could all be thankful.
Americans' love affair with meat - we already knew - has some supersized impacts on the environment, from its intensive use of water to the enormous carbon footprint, as well as our nutritional health.
And today we learned more about its supersized impact on public health. Eating processed meats like bacon and hot dogs causes bowel cancer, while eating red meat (including beef and veal, pork, goat and lamb) probably is carcinogenic to humans. That's the conclusion of the World Health Organization's authoritative International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which classifies red meat as a Group 2a carcinogen. The findings were published in the journal Lancet Oncology.
Processed meat was classified as Group 1, carcinogenic to humans - the strongest possible designation, like tobacco and asbestos. The classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence, not the potency of the carcinogen. WHO's analysis estimates that for every 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily, the risk of bowel cancer rises by about 18%.
A Group 2a classification means there is strong evidence from studies in animals to label red meat as probably cancer-causing, combined with limited evidence from human studies that also shows eating red meat to be positively associated with developing bowel cancer in the colon or rectum. There also is science linking red meat consumption with prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer. Cancers of the colon and rectum are the 2nd most common cause of cancer-related deaths in American men and women, with nearly 50,000 deaths expected in 2015.
These are WHO's two highest cancer classifications. The risk rises with the amount of meat consumed. It would not be good medicine to wait longer before strongly advising the public to eat less red meat, especially less processed meat. WHO recommendations also include eating diets higher in whole grains and vegetables and limiting red and processed meats because of evidence that dietary fiber protects against cancer.
Luckily, the WHO's ruling comes on the heels of a growing trend toward eating less and better meat in America. American red meat consumption has already dropped about 25% since the mid-1970s. But Americans, on average, still eat about 1.9 lbs of red meat per week - approaching double the E.U.-recommended amount of no more than 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of cooked red meat per week.
Yet, if history is any guide, Big Meat will likely resist the new IARC classification and try to undermine the well-considered opinions of nutrition and health experts.
Happily, Big Meat doesn't represent the entire industry, so when people eat red meat, they can also make better choices. Producers of better meat are meeting an increasing share of the red meat consumed today—meat from well-stewarded farms and ranches, from animals raised more humanely and with no or reduced hormones and antibiotics.
How red meat is produced is a major health issue for the animals, of course, but also for people. Recent announcements by meat and restaurant companies, including Subway, underscore what the CDC, NRDC, and others have long maintained - giving human antibiotics routinely to healthy animals has helped create a superbug problem. And that's a problem we can no longer ignore or tolerate.
Companies like Panera and Chipotle show that this approach to buying meat can be good for public health and business. While sales of conventional meat are flat or declining, sales of healthier, more sustainably-produced meats are up.
And because meat products can be some of the most resource intensive to produce, eating less - and more sustainably raised - meat can reduce the impact of the conventional meat industry on our land, water, air and climate.
The bottom line is to eat less and eat better meat. Better for you, better for the planet. With Thanksgiving approaching, that's a change for which we could all be thankful.