IARC declares Cured Meat as a Group 1 Carcinogen...Red Meat as Group 2a...???

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

diggingdogfarm

Master of the Pit
Original poster
Jun 23, 2011
4,648
177
Southern Tier of New York State
FWIW.... :icon_rolleyes:

"Today, in a sizzling announcement, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) officially marked processed meat, such as bacon, hot dogs, and sausages, as “carcinogenic to humans,” a “group 1” designation. The agency, an arm of the World Health Organization, also classified red meat, such as beef, pork, and lamb, as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” a “group 2A” grade."


Sources: http://arstechnica.com/science/2015...t-dogs-other-processed-red-meat-cause-cancer/
and http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045(15)00444-1/fulltext


Thoughts?
 
I think that people forget that we are OMNIVORES. Part of that deal is eating meat. We aren't going to live for ever. We WILL die of something. The W.H.O. announcement today isn't going to stop me eating my favorites!

Ultimately if I've got to die of something..let meat be that thing! More likely my motorcycle addiction will be the culprit!

On the humorous side....

 Bacon's comment regarding this;

bacon-sandwich-425x265.jpg


BACON has asserted that it is the greatest and all other food is its bitch.

As researchers linked bacon to a number of health problems including heart disease, bacon announced that it did not give a fuck.

Other foods cleared a respectful path as bacon slid out of the fridge to deliver its confident statement.

Bacon said: “Out of my way bitches, bacon’s coming through.

“You think you can replace bacon with chicken, fish or lentils. You cannot. You think a longer, healthier life without bacon is worth living. It is not.

“I am bacon. Smell bacon. Nothing else in the universe smells like that, you firstborn child’s head smells like shit by comparison. I’m incredible and I don’t even have to try.

“You go ahead and talk your talk, but you know, and I know, what’s going in the frying pan tomorrow. Here’s a clue – it’s not chicken.

“Bacon has spoken. You may go now.”
 
I am curious on what curing process the meat that was in the test was put through.  The store bought crap that has been "smoked" and "cured" can have a ton of extras in it to ensure longer shelf life etc.  Tons of red meat isn't a good for you and I wont disagree that people should be cutting back on processed meats as well, just want to know what the criteria was what "meats" where in the studies. 

Here is the release from the IARC regarding this. 

http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2015/pdfs/pr240_E.pdf
 
It's important to remember that all this organization does is review studies to determine if there is in fact a link.  Group 1 doesn't mean oh dear god bacon is killing me!  It simply means that there is in fact a connection.  The severity of that is left to be determined by other groups.  So while processed meats are  carcinogenic, they are shown to be negligible.  It's information to have and do with as you please, but statistically you aren't likely to go out due to bacon.  A good article explaining this is as follows. (Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules posting the link.)

http://www.wired.com/2015/10/who-does-bacon-cause-cancer-sort-of-but-not-really/
 
Last edited:
A repost from my Twitter feed with some elaboration here. The IARC report on meat and cancer should be viewed as factitious science. Here, in the USA, the National Institute of Health maintains a TOXNET website, which holds the Carcinogenic Potency Database. That database shows the relationship between dose-response and cancer. Acrylamide, one of the named chemical mutagens, as well as nitrate/nitrite have less carcinogenic potency that toast or mustard. http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cpdb/MOE.html - and my 1994 response to an American Journal of Epidemiology's story about chilis (chiles, chillis) causing cancer is here: http://www.fieryfoodscentral.com/2009/04/07/the-bogus-chile-pepper-cancer-scare/ - there is no cancer EPIDEMIC.
 
 
A repost from my Twitter feed with some elaboration here. The IARC report on meat and cancer should be viewed as factitious science. Here, in the USA, the National Institute of Health maintains a TOXNET website, which holds the Carcinogenic Potency Database. That database shows the relationship between dose-response and cancer. Acrylamide, one of the named chemical mutagens, as well as nitrate/nitrite have less carcinogenic potency that toast or mustard. http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cpdb/MOE.html - and my 1994 response to an American Journal of Epidemiology's story about chilis (chiles, chillis) causing cancer is here: http://www.fieryfoodscentral.com/2009/04/07/the-bogus-chile-pepper-cancer-scare/ - there is no cancer EPIDEMIC.
Excellent information.  Thank you.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky