May 3, 2005 – Regular consumption of processed meats would significantly increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. These are the results of a large epidemiological study1 which were communicated to some 15,000 researchers gathered at 96e American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.
Researchers led by Ute Nöthlings, an epidemiologist at the Cancer Research Center of the University of Hawaii (USA), observed, over a period of seven years, the diets of 190,545 American subjects, men and women. of various ethnic origins (Caucasians, African Americans, Latin Americans, Nipo-Americans and Hawaiians of origin) in relation to the incidence of pancreatic cancer.
Their results indicate that a high consumption of industrial meats (prepared meats, hot dog sausages, bologna and spreads, for example) was associated with a 67% increase in the risk of contracting pancreatic cancer compared to the risk. incurred by people who rarely consumed it.
The data collected further indicates that a high consumption of pork and red meat would increase the risk of suffering from this cancer by 50%. No correlation has been established between the consumption of poultry, fish, dairy products or eggs and the incidence of pancreatic cancer. This leads researchers to conclude that it is not fat, saturated or not, which is responsible for the increase in the incidence of this type of cancer.
Ute Nöthlings hypothesizes that certain substances which appear during the industrial preparation of meat, in particular heterocyclic amines or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, could be involved.
The big names in the American meat industry were quick to react. The day after Professor Nöthlings’ presentation, representatives of the American Meat Institute Foundation (American Meat Institute Foundation) stated that there is “a broad consensus within the scientific community that industrial meats have their place in a healthy diet”. They noted that the authors of the study provided “no evidence to identify the mechanism that would be at the origin of the observed effects”2.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
1. Processed meat ups pancreas cancer risk. Reuters Health, United States, 2005. [Consulté le 29 avril 2005]. www.reutershealth.com
2. Meat industry slams cancer study. CEE-foodindustry.com (NOVIS), United States, 2005. [Consulté le 29 avril 2005]. www.cee-foodindustry.com
