Scientists demand cancer warnings on bacon and ham sold in UK
Gosh. Scientists!
Four of the scientists behind the warning about processed meat issued by the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and other experts, have written to Wes Streeting, the health secretary, urging him to take bold action to reduce the danger nitrites pose, in a letter organised by the Coalition Against Nitrites.
Why’s that then?
“Consumers deserve clear information. Most people don’t realise that the WHO classifies nitrite-cured meats like bacon and ham in the same carcinogenic category as tobacco and asbestos,” said Denis Corpet, an emeritus professor of food safety and nutrition at Toulouse University and one of the four scientists.
Same group and warning as the contraceptive pill too. So, you know….
Is there a proposal that we stop using nitrites as well ?
It’s your choice folks :
Food poisoning
Or
Cancer
Why yes… You do add it. mandatory even if you want to y’know… sell it..
It’s deliberately added to “curing salt” in the form of sodium nitrate, and clasically saltpeter derived from leeching wood-ash since…. literally forever as far as they’ve been able to figure out.
Gets turned into nitrite *during* the curing process, and is a large part of the “preservation” bit of the process.
You *can*, of course, do without. I’d actually encourage these Scientists™ to try bacon or ham produced like that.
The botulin will sort out their worries pretty soon-ish. Or Listeria, or…..
There’s a bloody reason it’s done this way…
There’s a bloody reason they’re trying to outlaw bacon as well…
The Science Fictions podcast (nėe The Studies Show) looked in to this in one of their first episodes and IIRC nitrate cured meats fall in to the category: “Industry can’t prove they don’t cause cancer therefore they are a cancer risk” like most food stuffs we are told cause cancer.
Blue Smarties
A 55 year old has an 8% chance of death before age 65. This goes up by 1% to 9% if they are eating 3 rashers a day. If however they skip the bacon and smoke a pack a day the risk of death goes up by >10% to 18% plus. So if everyone ate bacon it would lead to one extra death per 100 people in the 55-65 group, but bring an immense amount of pleasure to the other 99, even the 8 that died of other things.
The risk factors for unprocessed meat aren’t that much better than bacon (0.5% increase) so that would be next.
“emeritus”, ie retired. useless, left-over, nonworking, dumped on scrap heap.
How is someone in France able to stay in a job who opposes red meat and cigarettes? Isn’t that like being a member of NAMBLA there?
Most of the nitrates and nitrites we consume come from plant foods we eat. Bad news for vegans then.
Nitrites prevent growth of Clostridium botulinum which produces harmful neurotoxins, and stops food spoiling. I’ll stick with the preservatives thanks, which have been used for centuries.
The two primary risk factors for cancers are: advancing age; genetics.
Once again I’ll note that they played the game – “Scientists demand” – not some scientists, or scientists we like, or wacky vegan scientists, just “scientists”.
Ban it . . . or it ain’t dangerous. What kind of stupid fascist action is putting a warning label on it?
Scientists get to ‘demand?’
WHO is full of feces.
https://junkscience.com/2012/01/report-processed-meat-linked-to-pancreatic-cancer/