Processed meat

The American Institute for Cancer Research and World Cancer Research Fund define processed meat as "meat preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or addition of chemical preservatives".{{Cite web|date=2012|title=What is Processed Meat, Anyway?|url=https://www.aicr.org/resources/blog/what-is-processed-meat-anyway/|website=American Institute for Cancer Research|language=en-GB|archive-date=January 17, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117015841/https://www.aicr.org/resources/blog/what-is-processed-meat-anyway/|url-status=live}}

The Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences defined processed meat as "any meat preserved by smoking, curing, or salting, or with the addition of chemical preservatives; examples include bacon, salami, sausages, hot dogs or processed deli, or luncheon meats".{{cite book |last=Aiyegoro |first=O. A. |chapter=Microbial Contamination of Processed Meat |date=2014 |title=Encyclopedia of Meat Sciences |publisher=Academic Press |pages=289-293 |isbn=978-0-12-384734-8}}

Image:Nitrosyl-Heme.png

Nitrate and sodium nitrite found in processed meats can be converted by the human body into nitrosamines that can be carcinogenic, causing mutation in the colorectal cell line, thereby causing tumorigenesis and eventually leading to cancer.{{cite journal | vauthors = Santarelli RL, Pierre F, Corpet DE | title = Processed meat and colorectal cancer: a review of epidemiologic and experimental evidence | journal = Nutrition and Cancer | volume = 60 | issue = 2 | pages = 131–44 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18444144 | pmc = 2661797 | doi = 10.1080/01635580701684872}} Processed meat is more carcinogenic compared to unprocessed red meat because of the abundance of potent nitrosyl-heme molecules that form N-nitroso compounds.{{cite journal | vauthors = Jeyakumar A, Dissabandara L, Gopalan V | title = A critical overview on the biological and molecular features of red and processed meat in colorectal carcinogenesis | journal = Journal of Gastroenterology | volume = 52 | issue = 4 | pages = 407–418 | date = April 2017 | pmid = 27913919 | doi = 10.1007/s00535-016-1294-x | s2cid = 20865644}}

A principal concern about sodium nitrite is Nitrosation/nitrosylation, the formation of carcinogenic nitroso-compounds in meats containing sodium nitrite or potassium nitrate,{{cite journal |last1=Lijinsky |first1=William |title=N-Nitroso compounds in the diet |journal=Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis |date=July 1999 |volume=443 |issue=1–2 |pages=129–138 |doi=10.1016/s1383-5742(99)00015-0 |pmid=10415436 |bibcode=1999MRGTE.443..129L }} especially nitrosyl-haem (nitrosyl heme).{{cite journal |last1=Kuhnle |first1=G.G.C. |last2=Bingham |first2=S.A. |title=Dietary meat, endogenous nitrosation and colorectal cancer |journal=Biochemical Society Transactions |date=1 November 2007 |volume=35 |issue=5 |pages=1355–1357 |doi=10.1042/BST0351355 |pmid=17956350 }} In addition to nitrosyl-haem, carcinogenic nitrosamines can be formed from the reaction of nitrite with secondary amines under acidic conditions (such as occurs in the human stomach) as well as during the curing process used to preserve meats.{{Citation needed|date=October 2016}}

Nitrate and nitrite are consumed from plant foods as well as animal foods, with 80% of a typical person's nitrate consumption coming from vegetables, especially leafy and root vegetables such as spinach and beets.{{Cite web |url=https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=1448&tid=258 |title=Public Health Statement for NITRATE and NITRITE|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218050820/https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=1448&tid=258|archivedate=18 December 2020}} Some nitrate is converted to nitrite in the human body. Nitrate and nitrite are classified as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and are not directly carcinogenic. Yet, when nitrate or nitrite interact with certain components in meat, such as heme iron, amines, and amides, they can form nitroso compounds, which may contribute to the association between consumption of processed meats and higher incidence of colorectal cancer.{{cite journal | pmc = 2661797 | year = 2008 | last1 = Santarelli | first1 = R. L. | title = Processed meat and colorectal cancer: A review of epidemiologic and experimental evidence | journal = Nutrition and Cancer | volume = 60 | issue = 2 | pages = 131–144 | last2 = Pierre | first2 = F. | last3 = Corpet | first3 = D. E. | pmid = 18444144 | doi = 10.1080/01635580701684872 }}

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization (WHO) classifies processed meat as Group 1 (carcinogenic to humans), because the IARC has found sufficient evidence that consumption of processed meat by humans causes colorectal cancer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iarc.who.int/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/pr240_E.pdf|title=IARC Monographs evaluate consumption of red meat and processed meat|date=26 October 2015|publisher=IARC|access-date=19 Sep 2022}}{{cite journal |title=Red and processed meat and colorectal cancer incidence: meta-analysis of prospective studies |date=6 Jun 2011 |publisher=NIH |pmid=21674008 |last1=Chan |first1=D. S. |last2=Lau |first2=R. |last3=Aune |first3=D. |last4=Vieira |first4=R. |last5=Greenwood |first5=D. C. |last6=Kampman |first6=E. |last7=Norat |first7=T. |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=e20456 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0020456 |pmc=3108955 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...620456C |doi-access=free }}

A 2016 report by the American Institute for Cancer Research and the World Cancer Research Fund found that processed meat consumption also increases the risk of stomach cancer.

In 2020, the American Cancer Society stated that "it is not known if there is a safe level of consumption for either red or processed meats. In the absence of such knowledge, while recognizing that the amount of increased risk isn't certain, the ACS recommends choosing protein foods such as fish, poultry, and beans more often than red meat, and for people who eat processed meat products to do so sparingly, if at all."

Reviews of epidemiological studies have also found that processed meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease,{{cite journal|author=Grant WB, Blake SM.|year=2023|title=Diet's Role in Modifying Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: History and Present Understanding|journal=Journal of Alzheimer's Disease|volume=96|issue=4|pages=1353–1382|pmid=37955087|doi=10.3233/JAD-230418|pmc=10741367}} cardiovascular disease,{{cite journal|first1=Wenming |last1=Shi |first2=Xin |last2=Huang |first3=C Mary |last3=Schooling |first4=Jie V |last4=Zhao|year=2023|title=Red meat consumption, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis|journal=European Heart Journal|url=https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/44/28/2626/7188739|volume=44|issue=28|pages=2626–2635| doi=10.1093/eurheartj/ehad336|pmid=37264855 |doi-access=free}} gastric cancer,{{cite journal|vauthors=Liu SJ, Huang PD, Xu JM, Li Q, Xie JH, Wu WZ, Wang CT, Yang XB|year=2022|title=Diet and gastric cancer risk: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies|journal=Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology|url=|volume=148|issue=8|pages=1855–1868|doi=10.1007/s00432-022-04005-1|pmid=35695929|s2cid=249613718 }} oral cancer,{{cite journal|author=Xu H, Gao Z, Liu H, An L, Yang T, Zhang B, Liu G, Sun D.|year=2025|title=Associations of lifestyle factors with oral cancer risk: An umbrella review|journal=J Stomatol Oral Maxillofac Surg|volume=23|issue=|pages=102234|doi=10.1016/j.jormas.2025.102234|pmid=39862963}} stroke,{{cite journal|vauthors=Guo N, Zhu Y, Tian D, Zhao Y, Zhang C, Mu C, Han C, Zhu R, Liu X|year=2022|title=Role of diet in stroke incidence: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective observational studies|journal=BMC Medicine|volume=24|issue=1|pages=194| doi=10.1186/s12916-022-02381-6|pmid=35606791 |pmc=9128224 |doi-access=free}} and type-2 diabetes.{{cite journal|author=Li C, Bishop TRP, Imamura F, Sharp SJ, Pearce M, Brage S, Ong KK, Ahsan H, Bes-Rastrollo M, Beulens JWJ, den Braver N, Byberg L, Canhada S, Chen Z, Chung HF, Cortés-Valencia A, Djousse L, Drouin-Chartier JP, Du H, Du S, Duncan BB, Gaziano JM, Gordon-Larsen P, Goto A, Haghighatdoost F, Härkänen T, Hashemian M, Hu FB, Ittermann T, Järvinen R, Kakkoura MG, Neelakantan N, Knekt P, Lajous M, Li Y, Magliano DJ, Malekzadeh R, Le Marchand L, Marques-Vidal P, Martinez-Gonzalez MA, Maskarinec G, Mishra GD, Mohammadifard N, O'Donoghue G, O'Gorman D, Popkin B, Poustchi H, Sarrafzadegan N, Sawada N, Schmidt MI, Shaw JE, Soedamah-Muthu S, Stern D, Tong L, van Dam RM, Völzke H, Willett WC, Wolk A, Yu C; EPIC-InterAct Consortium; Forouhi NG, Wareham NJ|year=2024|title=Meat consumption and incident type 2 diabetes: an individual-participant federated meta-analysis of 1·97 million adults with 100 000 incident cases from 31 cohorts in 20 countries|journal=Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol|url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(24)00179-7/fulltext|volume=12|issue=9|pages=619-630|doi=10.1016/S2213-8587(25)00002-6|pmid=39174161|doi-access=free}}

A systematic review and meta-analysis of 148 published articles was carried out on studies of the consumption of red meat and processed meat in relation to cancer incidence.{{cite journal |vauthors=Farvid MS, Sidahmed E, Spence ND, Mante Angua K, Rosner BA, Barnett JB |title=Consumption of red meat and processed meat and cancer incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies |journal=Eur J Epidemiol |volume=36 |issue=9 |pages=937–951 |date=September 2021 |pmid=34455534 |doi=10.1007/s10654-021-00741-9 |url=}} Processed meat consumption was significantly correlated with a 6% greater risk of breast cancer, an 18% greater risk of colorectal cancer, a 21% greater risk of colon cancer, a 22% greater risk of rectal cancer and a 12% greater risk of lung cancer

{{reflist}}

• Horowitz, Roger. Putting Meat on the American Table. Taste, Technology, Transformation. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.

{{commons category}}

• [http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai407e/AI407E02.htm Meat processing technology for small- to medium-scale producers] Gunter Heinz, Peter Hautzinger, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP), Bangkok, 2007, {{ISBN|978-974-7946-99-4}}
• {{Cite book|title = Processed Meats|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XcPrCAAAQBAJ|publisher = Springer Science & Business Media|date = 2012-12-06|isbn = 9789401096928|first1 = A. M.|last1 = Pearson|first2 = F. W.|last2 = Tauber}}Introduction [https://books.google.com/books?id=XcPrCAAAQBAJ&dq=Processed%20meat&pg=PA1]

Category:Meat

Category:IARC Group 1 carcinogens