The Life Ledger

Fitness is a way of life.

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A story currently making rounds on the interwebs makes vague claims about how eating 1.8oz of processed meat per day, the equivalent of one sausage, increases your risk of bowel cancer by 20%. Blogs like That’s Fit are picking up the story, as originally reported in UK papers like the Daily Mail:

One sausage a day can significantly raise the risk of bowel cancer, one of the deadliest forms of the disease, experts have warned.

Eating 1.8oz (50g) of processed meat a day - the equivalent of one sausage or three rashers of bacon - raises the likelihood of the cancer by a fifth, research shows.

Never satisfied with vague, oblique references like “studies show,” I did some digging to find a study that actually backs up this claim. A search on Medical News Today results in this article:

For most Americans, meals tend to center around meat. To significantly decrease a person’s risks of developing colorectal cancer, experts at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center suggest a new approach to meal planning that focuses more on fruit and vegetable dishes.

According to recent findings issued by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR), consuming more than 18 ounces, or a little over a pound, of red meat (pork, beef, lamb and goat) each week can significantly increase a person’s risks for developing colorectal cancer. In addition, every ounce and a half of red meat a person eats over 18 ounces increases their risks by 15 percent.

AICR also recommends eating very little processed meat (meat preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding chemical preservatives), such as ham, bacon, hot dogs, sausages, pastrami and salami. Every ounce and a half of processed meat eaten a day is thought to increase a person’s risks of developing colorectal cancer by 21 percent.

Experts at University of Texas suggest? Recent findings issued by AICR? Still not satisfied, I do a little searching at AICR’s website, which doesn’t provide any further information or studies backing up the claims. I next head to the World Cancer Research Fund’s UK website, which is cited by several news stories, and find what appears to be the story’s origin:

Last year we published our Expert Report, which analysed 7,000 studies on the link between lifestyle and cancer risk and then made 10 recommendations on how to reduce cancer risk.

The report found convincing evidence that red meat and processed meat are a cause of bowel cancer. Because of this, we recommend people limit consumption of red meat to 500g per week (cooked weight) and to avoid eating processed meat…

Processed meat is any type of meat that is preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or by adding preservatives. Examples of this are ham, bacon, pastrami and salami. Hamburgers and minced meats only count as processed meat if they have been preserved with salt or chemical additives.

There you have it - the story is based on a report which analyzed “7,000 studies” and made a determination based on that analysis. Don’t get me wrong - I’m not suggesting processed meat isn’t bad for you, and avoid it like the plague myself. I simply dislike reading news articles making vague references to things that “studies suggest” without providing the evidence. News agencies don’t have a very good track record of accurately reporting health news, as inaccuracies arise when dense stories are condensed into soundbites and short timelines are met. Excluding information on studies or reports that originate the story make me question news articles that much more.

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