WHO: Processed meat can lead to cancer, red meat 'probable' cause

Red meat, under which the IARC includes beef, lamb and pork, was classified as a "probable" carcinogen in its group 2A list that also contains glyphosate, the active ingredient in many weedkillers.

The lower classification for red meat reflected "limited evidence" that it causes cancer. The IARC found links mainly with bowel cancer, as was the case for processed meat, but it also observed associations with pancreatic and prostate cancer.

The agency, whose findings on meat followed a meeting of health experts in France earlier this month, estimated each 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent.

The IARC, which was assessing meat for the first time and reviewed some 800 studies, does not compare the level of cancer risk associated with products in a given category, so does not suggest eating meat is as dangerous as smoking, for example.

Health policy in some countries already calls for consumers to limit intake of red and processed meat, but the IARC said such advice to consumers was in certain cases focused on heart disease and obesity.

The preparation of the IARC's report has already prompted vigorous reactions from meat industry groups, which argue meat forms part of a balanced diet and that cancer risk assessments need to be set in a broader context of environmental and lifestyle factors.

The IARC, which does not make specific policy recommendations, cited an estimate from the Global Burden of Disease Project — an international consortium of more than 1,000 researchers — that 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are attributable to diets high in processed meat.

This compares with about 1 million cancer deaths per year globally due to tobacco smoking, 600,000 a year due to alcohol consumption, and more than 200,000 each year due to air pollution, it said.

If the cancer link with red meat were confirmed, diets rich in red meat could be responsible for 50,000 deaths a year worldwide, according to the Global Burden of Disease Project.

The American Cancer Society declined to comment on the media reports ahead of the release, but a spokesman told Reuters the group has long recommended that people limit their consumption of red and processed meats.

Shalene McNeill, executive director of human nutrition research at the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, said the available scientific evidence does not support a causal relationship between any type of red or processed meat and any type of cancer.

"Cancer is a complex disease that even the best and brightest minds don't fully understand," said McNeill, who attended the IARC meetings earlier this month.

"Billions of dollars have been spent on studies all over the world and no single food has ever been proven to cause or cure cancer," she said. 

Total worldwide meat consumption reached 341 million tons in 2013. This is 25 percent more than in 2003, with more consumption supported by emerging market growth.

Business analysts said a cancer link in the scientific review may have a limited impact on industry sales and prices.

"I think people know you're not supposed to eat as much red meat as you do," said Liberum food industry analyst Robert Waldschmidt.

"(But) not everyone recognises that some of these smoked and cured meats are bad for you, i.e. carcinogenic. I think on smoked, cured stuff it will have some negative impact."

Al Jazeera and wire services