Processed meat and red meat can cause cancer – WHO

Eating
processed
meat can
cause bowel
cancer in
humans while
red meat is a
likely cause of
the disease,
World Health
Organization
(WHO) experts
said on
Monday in
findings that
could sharpen
debate over
the merits of a
meat-based
diet. The
France-based
International
Agency for
Research on
Cancer (IARC),
part of the
WHO, put
processed
meat like hot
dogs and ham
in its group 1
list, which
already
includes
tobacco,
asbestos and
diesel fumes,
for which
there is
"sufficient
evidence" of
cancer links.
"For an
individual, the
risk of
developing
colorectal
(bowel) cancer
because of
their
consumption
of processed
meat remains
small, but this
risk increases
with the
amount of
meat
consumed," Dr
Kurt Straif,
Head of the
IARC
Monographs
Programme,
said in a
statement.