Dr. Keith Amiel
Caribbean Broilers is again downplaying concerns about the risk of cancer from eating processed meat.
Dr. Keith Amiel, Corporate Affairs Manager at Caribbean Broilers, responding to another adverse international report on the issue, told RJR News that his company has done the relevant tests on its products.
“We test every batch of processed pork and sausages that we do… to ensure that they are below these recommended levels,” he said.
Asserting that “there is no real cause for concern,” he said the recommended levels were set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO on Monday said eating processed meat, such as sausages and ham, causes cancer, while unprocessed red meat may also be carcinogenic.
A group of 22 scientists from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, evaluated more than 800 studies from several continents about meat and cancer.
The studies looked at more than a dozen types of cancer in populations with diverse diets over the past 20 years.
Based on that evaluation, the IARC classified processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans,” noting links in particular to colon cancer. It said red meat contains some important nutrients, but still labeled it “probably carcinogenic,” with links to colon, prostate and pancreatic cancers.
The agency said it did not have enough data to define how much processed meat is too dangerous, but said the risk grows with the amount consumed. Analysis of 10 of the studies suggested that a 50-gram portion of processed meat daily — or about 1.75 ounces — increases the risk of colorectal cancer over a lifetime by about 18 per cent.
