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WHO links processed meat to cancer, HK people not expected to give up
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Program Code: 0909346151105002 | Source: CNTV
THE World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer recently released a report stating that processed meats, like hot dogs and bacon, cause cancer.
It was news, perhaps, only a vegetarian could love. The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) caused shockwaves when it released a report analyzing 800 studies from around the world, concluding that processed meats such as sausages, ham, and hot dogs cause bowel cancer, and red meat "probably" does too.
HK has the highest per capita meat consumption in the world, according to Hong Kong’s Merchandise Trade Statistics. 96% percent of Hong Kong’s food is imported from all over the world, with about 30% of it being processed food, and most of this is processed meat.
Simon Wong is the chairman of the Food and Beverage Industry of HK.
"It’s just too general to say that processed meat causes cancer. This is not fair to the food industry. Every day, people in HK eat a lot of ham, bacon, sausages, and canned food which contains processed meat. If we are not able to consume these kinds of food, what can we eat?" Wong said.
Simon Wong says in the past few days, it has already had some negative impacts on HK markets.
"Some schools announced that they will not use processed meat for students during lunch time, and even some restaurants say because of the report, they will cut down on the sale of processed meat. So this could affect the market quite a bit," Wong said.
Others say the report was not calling for people to stop eating meat altogether, just that it’s better to be below a certain amount.
Sally Poon is a UK-registered dietitian.
"Experts concluded that each 50g of processed meat can increase the risk of colorectal cancer by 18% percent, and each 100g of red meat per day can increase the colorectal cancer by 17%," UK-registered dietitian Sally Poon said.
So the question is: how much is 50g of processed meat or 100g of red meat?
According to the Center for Food Safety of HK, 50g equals one and half pieces of sausage, or two slices of ham, or one-third of a can of luncheon meat, or two slices of bacon.
It looks like HK people are not expected to give up meat.
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