Meat Industry INSIGHTS Newsletter

971052 Meat Preparation May Cause Cancer

October 23, 1997

NEW YORK - America's fondness for barbecues and grills may be behind red meat's reputed link to cancer, speculate British researchers.

Experts at the University of Cambridge in England found "no evidence that frequent consumption of (red) meat is a risk factor for cancer," despite previous American research that suggested such a link. The British study authors suspect that "the way in which the meat is cooked" might put U.S. diners at heightened risk for cancer.

The research appears in the latest issue of the British Medical Journal.

The Cambridge findings are not entirely new. As reported in April, researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland, found that individuals who preferred well-done, barbecued beef faced triple the risk of stomach and esophageal cancers over those who favored rare and medium-rare broiled or fried meats.

In their study, the British authors reviewed the diets of 3,660 British men and women during 1984-1985, then tracked their rate of colorectal cancer incidence over the next seven years. "There were no indications," the investigators say, "that... more frequent consumption of meat was associated with the development of cancer in men or women."

They did find a link between a drop in cancers and diets high in fruits and salads, however.

Dr. Rashmi Sinha, a co-author of the NCI study, says conflicting study results from around the world make it difficult to draw clear conclusions about the health hazards (if any) of red meat consumption. "Right now the data is very mixed," she said.

Sinha says that "at this point I can't attribute (raised cancer risk) to the cooking of meat." She believes that co-ordinated, international studies currently underway may help clarify the issue.

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