Oh nos
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/08/18/2659518.htmKiller
sandwich: ham linked to cancer
Killer sandwich: ham linked to cancer
They might seem a harmless lunchtime filler but
ham, salami and devon are on the World Cancer Research Fund's hit
list.
The cancer charity says eating processed meat is linked to bowel
cancer in adults and it is now calling on parents to teach healthy
food habits early.
The charity's Lisa Cooney says it is recommending parents do not
give their children more than 70 grams of processed meat a
week.
That is the equivalent of two ham sandwiches, or three thin
rashers of bacon.
"There's convincing scientific evidence linking the consumption
of processed meats like ham, salami and bacon to an increase in
bowel cancer risk," Ms Cooney said.
"And we also know that the habits we develop during childhood
can follow us through to adulthood. So parents have a really
wonderful opportunity to help promote really healthy habits in
their children."
Ms Cooney says the dangers may lie in the processing stage.
"Researchers aren't yet entirely sure themselves and are still
trying to figure out the actual mechanisms, but ... what we think
is the process of processing and the things that are added to
typically red meat, say for example when things are cured or salted
or with the addition of chemical preservatives, lead to the
development of cancer," she said.
"But what we are clear on is that people who consume processed
meat are at a greater risk of developing bowel cancer."
Nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton says processed meats can become
addictive.
"If you are going to start looking at what you put on
sandwiches, most people put about 35 grams or so on a sandwich,"
she said.
"So two ham sandwiches a week, if you didn't have any other
processed meat, wouldn't be such a big problem.
"But if your kids or anyone else gets addicted to ham sandwiches
every day they're going to go way over that by the end of the
week."
Dr Stanton says there does appear to be a link between bowel
cancer and increased consumption of processed meat.
"The link is actually convincing and it comes from lots of
studies on lots of people," she said.
"The link is also there for fresh meat.
"These are big important studies. This is not somebody looking
at 200 people, these are millions of people when you add up all of
the studies and they're all showing the same thing."
But Meat and Livestock Australia general manager David Thomason
says other studies refute such findings.
"There are some studies that show that there is a slight, and I
emphasise the word slight, increase in cancer risk associated with
that, but then other studies don't' support that," he said.
"The most recent work which has been done by a research in the
United States, Dr Dominic Alexander, has found in fact there is no
statistical association between the two."
He says it is important to take the World Cancer Fund's warning
in context.
"This report, which came out of the United Kingdom, is based on
European food consumption patterns," he said.
"Australians eat meat and processed meat very differently and in
very different quantities to people in Europe.
"Most meat consumption in mainland Europe is based around
preserved pork products. In Australia we do consume ham and bacon
and what have you, but it's in far more modest quantities."
Consumers are not so sure about the latest warnings.
"I'm not sure about kids but I know that I like more than two
serves a week, so I'm going to have to think about that," one woman
said.
"You know, protecting the children from meats isn't really going
to stop anything happening to them," another customer said.
"We all grew up eating processed meats, microwave food."
Another consumer maintains eating processed meats, which she has
eaten since she was young, has never harmed her.
"I mean pigs in blankets, is that right? Where they had the mash
potato in the middle? Fantastic!"
"You know you don't see people dropping dead all over the place
in Italy. They're going for the salami, there's no national crisis
there," another said.
