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FBR March 2016

www.fbreporter.com FOOD & BEVERAGE REPORTER | MARCH 2016 | 23 T he International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is part of the World Health Organization (WHO) and evaluates observed relationships or associations between agents and cancer risk. For this they developed a system of categories to assess the carcinogenicity of different agents (including foods) to humans. Of the nearly 1000 agents evaluated by the panel, only a single one (a precursor for Nylon), has ever been grouped as probably not carcinogenic to humans. Late last year IARC published a report on the link between red and processed meat and cancer which led to media frenzy. The report said that the consumption of red meat is probably carcinogenic to humans, and the consumption of processed meat is carcinogenic to humans. What we need to know, firstly, is that the IARC represents the opinion of a select group of scientists (all from developed countries) and their opinion is not necessarily based on consensus in the global scientific community. (Noteworthy: the final classifications for the 2015 report were apparently also based on a majority agreement and not unanimous consensus of the working group). The IARC evaluation did not introduce any new evidence and was based on a review of existing scientific literature, none of which included any study from a developing country. The populations within the 108 developing countries across the globe consume culturally unique diets which are often high in starch-based staple foods with limited meat. Similarly, South Africans eat uniquely. The majority of our meat-eating folk consume mostly chicken, then beef, followed by pork, lamb or mutton and then only processed meat (BFAP, 2015). But importantly, our processed meat looks significantly different to processed meats found in many other countries. In most viennas and polonies sold in SA, the bulk of the ingredients include chicken, turkey, pork and vegetable proteins. There is no, or only trace quantities of, red meat. Secondly, IARC evaluations involve hazard analyses, not risk assessments. This distinction is important. It means that the panel members consider whether the agent at some level, under some circumstance, could be a hazard for cancer. The fact that it does not include a risk assessment means that it doesn’t take into account the real quantifiable exposure to the substance linked to its potential to cause cancer. Despite not conducting a risk assessment, the 2015 report continued to publish a risk that eating 50 grams of processed meat each day can increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 18% (no quantifiable risk for eating fresh red meat was given). T o make allegations about causation and risk for the entire global population (and all processed meats) is ignorant and even erroneous. Even if there is some validity in the published risk, it has a fairly small impact on South Africans. Apart from our diets being very low in processed meat to begin with (on average we consume less than 12g per person per day (BFAP, 2015), our normal lifetime risk for colon cancer is 0.88% or 1 in 114 for men, and 0.55% or 1 in 182 for women (NHSL, 2010). If you then do decide to consume more than 50g processed meat every day, your risk of getting colorectal cancer will increase to 1.04% if you are male, and 0.65% if you are female – remaining a relatively low risk. Despite being a meat-loving nation, South Africans consume less red meat than what is often perceived. On average we eat notably less protein (11 to 18% of dietary energy) compared to recommended levels (20% of dietary energy) – a recommendation made by the same WHO which released the cancer report. We are recommended to eat up to 90g meat per day as part of our national food-based dietary guidelines (a story for another day) yet, as a population, we consume only 54g of beef, pork and lamb per person per day. What we need to keep in mind is that cancer is a multi-complex problem that cannot be solved or blamed on one specific product or food group. The best way to minimize cancer risk is to live a healthy lifestyle. References: • IARC. International Agency for Research on Cancer. Agents classified by the IARC monographs, volumes 1–108. Available from: http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Classification/ index.php. • NHSL. National Health Services Laboratory. National Institute for Occupational Health. National Cancer Registry. 2010. Report available online at: http://www.nioh.ac.za/ assets/files/NCR_Final_2010_tables(1).pdf • BFAP. Bureau of Food and Agricultural Policy. 2015. Baseline Report. Report available online at: http://www.bfap.co.za/index.php/research- projects/baselines Dr Hall is a research consultant at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Well-being at the University of Pretoria OPINION THE CANCER REPORT Unfair to SA’s red meat industry? By Dr Nicolette Hall

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