The WHO wants to clear up the bacon-cancer link
The World Health Organization (WHO) has admitted that its findings linking bacon to cancer may have come across as a little rash.
In late October, the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) declared processed meats, including bacon and biltong, a class 1 carcinogen – showing that there is a causal link between eating these products and getting cancer.
This put bacon on the same level of cancer-causing agents such as tobacco, alcohol and sunlight – a move which sparked outcry among rasher lovers (and medical experts) all over the world.
According to studies by the WHO, for every 50 grams of processed meat you eat per day, your risk of bowel cancer increases by 18%.
The findings were presented and assessed by a working group of 22 experts from 10 countries, which considered more than 800 studies that investigated associations of more than a dozen types of cancer with the consumption of red meat or processed meat in many countries and populations with diverse diets.
The most influential evidence came from large prospective cohort studies conducted over the past 20 years, the WHO said.
Following the report’s release – and the subsequent alarming media headlines saying bacon would give you cancer – the group said it received “a number of queries, expressions of concern and requests for clarification” over the findings.
The global health group issued a further statement on the findings saying that it was in no way suggesting people should stop eating bacon and processed meats – but was rather publishing the available evidence.
“The latest IARC review does not ask people to stop eating processed meats but indicates that reducing consumption of these products can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer,” it said.
The WHO said that the call for moderation was nothing new, and the IARC’s review simply confirms the recommendation in the 2002 “Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases” report.
The WHO said that early 2016 its group of experts will meet to begin “looking at the public health implications of the latest science and the place of processed meat and red meat within the context of an overall healthy diet”.
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