Processed meat such as ham, sausages and bacon are part of most homes everyday meal. However, in a recent announcement made by the World Health Organization, these products are now labelled as carcinogenic to humans.
This conclusion was drawn from an intensive review and analysis of over 800 studies about the link between the consumption of processed meat products and colorectal cancer. Red meat was also under inspection since it was labelled as a possible contributor of the disease. Although the world health organization's international Agency for research on cancer (IARC) has not yet revealed any conclusive data and results about this specific classification of meat product.
"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small," Dr. Kurt Straif from the WHO stated. "But this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed,"
According to statistics, consuming 50 grams of meat products a day can result to an alarming 18 percent chance of developing cancer. Although the WHO also stated that meat products have some positive effects on the human body and it all boils down to moderation.
Meat products such as bacon are now labelled in the same category as smoking in developing cancer, which is the highest category according to the journal published by researchers. Even the consumption of fresh meat is under intensive inspection.
The published report has received wild reactions from a number of meat manufacturing companies. According to the North American Meat Institute, cancer is not solely based on the consumption of one product, it's the result of so many different factors, such as living lifestyle, environmental factors and many more which were not reported in the published journal.
The message of the journal according to the WHO is moderation. An increase of the consumption of processed meat products every day is directly proportional to the increase of percentage of having cancer. To put things into a clearer perspective, according to the study of more than 1000 researchers that the 34000 cancer deaths annually are all linked with the high consumption of processed meat products.
