Processed Meat Could Raise Pancreatic Cancer Risk

Some possible bad news for all the bacon lovers out there.

A new review in the British Journal of Cancer suggests a link between processed meats -- like bacon and sausages -- and an increased pancreatic cancer risk.

In particular, eating an extra 50 grams a day of processed meat -- or about a sausage -- is enough to raise pancreatic cancer risk by 19 percent, BBC News reported, while an extra 100 grams of processed meat a day could raise the cancer risk by 38 percent.

"The authors of this study have suggested that one of the reasons could be that some of the chemicals that are used to preserve processed meat are turned in our bodies into some really harmful chemicals which can affect our DNA and increase the chance of cancer," Jessica Harris, health information manager at Cancer Research UK, told Sky News.

BBC News pointed out that the overall risk of pancreatic cancer is relatively low, though. However, other research has signaled a link between processed meat and other kinds of cancers, including colorectal cancer.

The review by Karolinska Institute researchers included an analysis of data from 11 different studies, which overall included 6,643 pancreatic cancer cases, the Guardian reported.

"Pancreatic cancer has poor survival rates," study researcher Susanna Larsson told the Guardian. "So as well as diagnosing it early, it's important to understand what can increase the risk of this disease."

Last year, Harvard researchers found that people who eat a 3.5-ounce serving of processed meat a day -- about two slices of bacon, or a hot dog -- have a 51 percent increased risk of Type 2 diabetes.

And people who eat one 100-gram serving of red, unprocessed meat -- the size of a deck of cards -- a day have a 19 percent increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to the study, which was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Comments

[sidnee]

10:44 PM on 03/08/2013

How is this NEW news? People have been screaming for years about not eating processed meats because of the nitrites/nitrates in those foods and how eating the stuff will cause cancer. Now, I like to occasionally eat some bacon, sausage or hot dog because well, they taste good. However, I have learned over the years to ignore the latest "what will kill" you food study (its salt, no its carbs, no its bacon, no its sugar....) and try to eat as healthy as I can while allowing myself the opportunity to have one of those "bad" foods from time to time. I think moderation is the definite key to everything.

[ginadeoliveira2008]

10:36 AM on 02/10/2012

Got the message . Zero processed meat!

[vincealy]

11:37 PM on 01/17/2012

The fact is that even "healthy" choices like turkey lunch-meat are processed and probably not as healthy as lets say grass feed beef.

[Unrepentant]

11:05 AM on 04/24/2012

Turkey lunch meat can't be healthy as it is already dead. I think what you mean is that non- processed foods are more healthful to the human body.

[hard4me2do]

09:16 PM on 01/17/2012

look at all sheep in this post!
lets look at the facts

1: this is an observational study, therefore it means almost nothing in real life
2: the researches didn't control the variables, ok maybe they ate lots of bacon, but did they also eat lots of carbs? vegetable oil? either of those and many more things can be the cause of the issue.

and here's the best part.
the chance of you this year getting pancreatic cancer is about 0.012%.
now if we assume this study was 100% true to the letter(which it obviously isn't) a 19% increase means your yearly chance of getting pancreatic cancer is-----
0.0145%

the chance of a normal person getting pancreatic cancer is 1.45%
if you eat 50 grams of bacon per day and we listen to this study
your LIFETIME chance of getting pancreatic cancer is 1.70%

just the media jumping to conclusions, clinical studies are all that matters and they also must control the variables and come to legitimate conclusions, not cherry pick data.

[Unrepentant]

11:06 AM on 04/24/2012

So go ahead and eat all the nitrates you want: it is your life. Those who have a little common sense will eat fewer processed foods.

[Stutuff]

02:03 PM on 01/16/2012

An old Biophysicist said years ago in the approx. 1/4 million tests he did on food the
main thing he found wrong with pork was, it like the other foods mentioned in the Bible,
such as fish without scales and etc., were they digested within 4 hours whereas it took
most red meats approx. 16 hrs.
He had a Dentist come to him that the medical profession had only given a few weeks
to live. This Biophysicist found out he was eating pork about 5 times a week. He told him
to quit eating the pork, which he did and his health came back and he lived to be an old
man.
One thing a lot of people aren't aware of is that pig's don't have sweat glands to help get
rid of the toxins in their body.
Besides that man wasn't created a meat eater, they were to eat of the seed bearing fruits
and etc., or so the Bible says.
It sure is the pits to use some common sense and not over do it with any food. Man, I like
chocolate !!!!!!!

[DianePVK]

03:12 PM on 01/16/2012

Man has canine teeth for ripping and shredding, and most animals with canines are meant to eat meat.

I prefer not to use the bible for my health and medical information. I don't think it's a good source of information, especially if you want to know what the modern view is. Just saying...

[ginadeoliveira2008]

10:39 AM on 02/10/2012

Good post. But your better asset is to be fluent in sarcasm. Always wished I were. It's a gift though.

[Whycee54]

10:04 AM on 01/16/2012

I love bacon. I have always loved bacon and I had to stop eating it because of diabetes but I still love to smell it. I eat a piece and savor it from time to time. What about the risks of just living in America, drinking crappy water and breathing in God only knows what? I take my one piece of bacon a month and enjoy it.ENJOY YOUR LIFE. Anything in excess is going to kill you anyway.

[OrwellianOne]

03:24 PM on 01/17/2012

America has some of the cleanest tap water on the planet.

Get a clue.

[MarcusRiedner]

01:21 PM on 01/19/2012

Bacon has nothing to do with diabetes - diabetes is a blood sugar disease. Bacon is fat and protein. You'd be better off ditching grains and replacing it with more bacon, that will help minimize your insulin swings.

[jess666]

04:53 PM on 01/15/2012

Another excuse ready for the Islam take over, afterall when we are ALL Muslim, pig meat will be forbidden, the pig will become extinct. Our pubs and churches are disappearing and now the poor piggy will too!

[Kailuabred]

01:42 PM on 01/16/2012

Very random and bizarre reply

[MollyMPeterson1]

10:28 AM on 01/15/2012

What is frustrating is they do not note what the ingredients were in the "processed" foods. Did they contain nitrites/nitrates and other chemicals unnecessary in the products? Buy from your local farmer and ASK them what's in their sausage and bacon. They'll tell you. Our bacon contains pepper, brown sugar and sea salt. That's it. As far as I'm concerned, this article is a fear tactic without proper, complete information.

[papparocket]

04:43 PM on 01/17/2012

It really doesn't matter exactly what is in the meat. It might be the saturated fat or cholesterol, or as some studies have shown the protein itself. Societies that eat little meat and get 90% or more of their calories from plants don't have the rate of cancer of the breast, prostate, liver, esophagus, colon, pancreas (as well as much lower rates of heart disease and diabetes) than countries countries like us who get 30-40% of our calories from animal products. In 1958, before they started eating like us, there were 18 deaths from prostate cancer in all of Japan for the entire year. The same year in the US, with only twice the population, there were 14,000 deaths from prostate cancer. And that was in '58. The rate of prostate cancer as only gone up since then. The difference is that the traditional Japanese diet gets most of its calories from rice, vegetables and fruits with a little fish and other meat as a garnish or treat when eating out.

[MollyMPeterson1]

05:37 PM on 01/17/2012

I would have to respectfully disagree with you to a degree. It absolutely has to to with what the animal consumes and what the animal is treated with post-life. I think there are many factors as to why our cancer rates have gone up but it has been proven that what you eat eats (yes, 2 words there) has a huge impact on the health of that animal. Look up corn fed versus grassfed/finished for one small example. The omega 3 to omega 6 ratio in grassfed is 1:1. In that of corn fed it is very heavy on the omega 6 side which contributes to heart disease; so what have our "nutritionists" done then? They put extra omega 3s in our pastas and cereals and anywhere else they can to balance out that problem. There is much more to those statements than room here. This then, in-turn, ties into your claim about cholesterol and saturated fats THEY in themselves are not the problem. to be continued on next comment...

[MollyMPeterson1]

05:37 PM on 01/17/2012

The fact is that our industrial food system has caused incredible uproar in our health in only a matter of a few decades. Our food system now is nothing like what it used to be even 30 years ago. Look up Michael Pollan, Joel Salatin, Alice Waters, Nina Planck and the many other advocates of people returning to their "roots" when it comes to what they put in their body. If you're comparing the Standard American Diet to those of other countries - those who have not done to their food supply what we have done - then you are comparing apples and oranges. It's time for us to stop looking to the government and pharmaceutical companies for our health and think for ourselves. As a meat farmer myself I can say that we should eat less meat but if we do choose to consume it, we should eat quality meat. We should absolutely care how our food is raised, what was put into or on it, and what we choose to put into our bodies.

[ginadeoliveira2008]

10:42 AM on 02/10/2012

Nitrites and nitrates are the real bad guys in processed meat. They are carcinogenic.

[MollyMPeterson1]

10:53 AM on 02/10/2012

I totally agree. That's why I was frustrated they didn't even mention it... the pork/bacon we raise doesn't have Nitrites/Nitrates for that reason...also, it's unnecessary.

[Fi]

07:14 AM on 01/15/2012

I eat bacon twice a week for breakfast.
I will NOT stop eating bacon.
I have to die of something, at some point.
And dagnabit, I will continue to eat and enjoy bacon.

[pinetrale]

07:23 PM on 01/14/2012

It may not be the processed meat, but simply the carriers used to eat it with, like two slices of refined bread or buns with each meat serving, etc as the carbs alone can cause weight gain and a risk for diabetes. I think the saturated fat and added salt in processed meat isn't the best for you, but I doubt the meat alone in that small a quantity is doing anything on its own, like is claimed. In studies the causal variable isn't always the one your studying.

[slowhanddean]

03:55 PM on 01/14/2012

The key word is could! I could hit the lotto but that isn't likely either.

[cactis]

03:51 PM on 01/14/2012

If it ain't real, don't eat it.

[DianePVK]

03:15 PM on 01/16/2012

Real in the existential sense or real as in naturally occurring in nature? Bacon is real, by either standard! :-)

[cactis]

04:17 PM on 01/16/2012

The preservative processing renders it no longer "real".

[RoNelu]

03:18 PM on 01/14/2012

See myth and truth about cancer http://www.infodisease.com/Cancer-myth-and-truth.php

[TOMMEATS]

03:09 PM on 01/14/2012

As a jimmy dean sausage ad is running with this artical O the horror!

[eripaul]

03:00 PM on 01/14/2012

Like all newly published studies, I take this one with a grain of salt. In my years, I've known more people than I could ever count whose diets were choc full of the most processed meats you could horribly imagine, and to date, neither the living or the dead ever had to deal with pancreatic cancer. Other conditions­, yes. Pancreatic cancer? Uh, no.

The one person I do know with pancreatic cancer and who has been fighting it valiantly for over a year has eaten processed meat in the 20 years I've known her about as often as I've watched any Kardashian on t.v. and felt smarter for having done so (i.e.- rarely). Her diet has always been full of fresh veggies and proteins over canned or processed foods, she never eats sweets, doesn't smoke, no family history of pancreatic cancer, never had other G.I. issues, simply was NOT at what 'they' say is risk for this disease. Yet here we are, and hearing this 'study' is more like white noise than anything useful.

Meanwhile, I've seen countless family, friends, acquaintan­ces, strangers etc. live into their 80's, 90's, and the century mark even, their years here full of spam, velveeta, hot dogs, canned and processed anything, cigarettes­, cigars, liquor, all the things 'studies' love to scare people with. Not once was pancreatic cancer the culprit.

This article/st­udy just leaves me annoyed in its lack of even trying to find a cure.