Processed meat is meat that has been altered to either extend its shelf life or change the taste by methods which include mainly smoking, curing, or adding salt or preservatives.
They include hot dog, ham, sausages, corned beef, bacon, ham, canned meat and meat-based preparations and sauces.
According to the global health body, the report stemmed from an analysis of data from 10 studies conducted by the body’s International Advisory Committee Working Group, consisting of 22 experts from 10 countries.
The report noted that processed meat increases the risk of cancer because meat can also contain chemicals that form during meat processing or cooking. It stated that carcinogenic chemicals are formed during meat processing.
WHO also posited that about 34,000 cancer deaths annually worldwide can be attributed to diets high in processed meat, according to the most recent estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project.
While the report also highlighted that red meat, like processed meat, could also be ‘carcinogenic to humans,’ it stated that there was inconclusive evidence.
“Eating red meat has not yet been established as a cause of cancer. However, if the reported associations were proven to be causal, the Global Burden of Disease Project has estimated that diets high in red meat could be responsible for 50,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide. These numbers contrast with about 1 million cancer deaths per year globally due to tobacco smoking, 600,000 per year due to alcohol consumption, and more than 200 000 per year due to air pollution.” “Protein is recommended for adequate diet. So, it is ideal to eat fish about three times a week, and other meat sources such as chicken, for those who can afford it. Proteins from legumes and beans sources are also recommended. Nigerians should limit their intake of meat generally and increase their intake of protein, fibres, vegetables, green and coloured vegetables, because they also provide antioxidants that mop up cancer-forming cells (carcinogens) in organisms.”
In the same vein, a nutritionist, Mr. Okunola Oladimeji, noted that, “Suya is not processed meat but it can be classified as such, because it is exposed to direct heat from the charcoal and chemical compounds which enter into it this way. It is advisable that people who eat suya should eat it with a lot of onions and vegetables that act as antioxidants. It is the chemicals that are the issues, not the meat. Also, one would notice that processed meat in popular roadside sausages do not have the same taste as fresh meat.”
Oladimeji urged Nigerians to go back to the traditional ways of meat preservation to reduce the risk of contracting cancer from processed meat consumption.
He said, “In the olden days, our grandparents used to preserve their meat through natural methods such as drying and roasting, which could keep their meat and fish preserved for months. But today, due to high commercial demands, chemicals are used to preserve the shelf lives of processed meat.
“To be on the safe side, aside from eating the onions and vegetables with suya, the seasoning and processed spices used in preparing suya could be replaced with natural seasonings such as garlic and ginger or local spices, that would make it safer and healthier to eat,” he said, adding that suya should be consumed on occasions, not as a staple.
“In the African culture, people value one’s worth by the quantity of meat one consumes. Once they see what is on the plate, it shows how much one spends to eat. This is why most people that develop cancer are the rich for they are the ones who mostly eat processed meat. Since they don’t have time to cook meat, they buy processed meat for convenience.
“There are other alternatives for protein, such as fish of different types; these also have high nutritional protein value,” he added.
Similarly, the chief lecturer, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Science and Technology, Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, Dr. Sunday Igah, advised that, “Nigerians should be wary of all kind of processed meat, ranging from fried, spiced, dyed /coloured meat and vegetal meat. As a point of fact, such meat and their analogues processed in recycled–frying –oils have the potential of being transformed to forms that have been associated with carcinogenicity in humans.
“Indeed, some of the red dyes used in some processed meat could interfere with activities of Glucose–6–phoshate dehydrogenase, which is a vital enzyme in the metabolic pathway.”
Igah said suya is a secondary category of processed meat because it is ‘treated’ more than once with heat, vegetable oils and spices.
Source :punchng
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