Demostrado: Las carnes rojas y procesadas producen cancer.

Mala noticia para los amantes del jamón (entre los que me incluyo) y las carnes.

Si bien mucha gente desconocía que la OMS incluyó hace poco las carnes rojas como potencialmente cancerígenas y las procesadas como probablemente cancerígenas, en marzo de 2018 se ha publicado en último informe de la agencia internacional contra el cancer con mas de 800 estudios cruzados y los resultados no dejan lugar a dudas:

Está probado que carne procesada produce cancer, más concretamente cancer de colon, recto, páncreas y próstata.

Y comer carnes rojas, también puede producir los mismos efectos.

Pero aclaremos las cosas:

1. ¿Qué son las carnes rojas?
   Las carnes rojas son todas las carnes de origen animal provenientes de mamíferos, como ternera, cerdo, cordero, y carnes de caza. Se las denomina carnes rojas porque es su color antes de ser cocinadas. Son un alimento muy importante, porque contienen gran cantidad de proteínas, hierro, vitamina B y zinc.
2. ¿Qué son las carnes procesadas?
   Las carnes procesadas son todas aquellas que han sido modificadas, cocinadas o conservadas para modificar sus propiedades, como su sabor, o evitar su degradación:«carne que ha sido transformada por la salazón, el endurecimiento, la fermentación, el ahumado, u otros procesos para realzar su sabor o mejorar su conservación. Las carnes más procesadas contienen cerdo o vacuno, pero las carnes procesadas pueden también contener otras carnes rojas, la carne de ave, de vísceras o de sub-productos tales como la sangre». Los perritos calientes (salchichas de Frankfurt), el jamón, las salchichas, el corned-beef, el biltong o la carne de vacuno secada o todavía las conservas de carne (patés...) y diversas preparaciones a base de carne y carnes en salsas son ejemplos de «carne procesada».
3. ¿Cómo están seguros de que producen cancer?
   El informe es como un recopilatorio, contiene los resultados de muchas pruebas, con mas de 800 estudios en 15 tipos diferentes de carnes y carnes procesadas, con animales y con humanos, y todos llegan a la misma conclusión, que comer carnes rojas o procesadas da cancer.
   La diferencia entre unas y otras es que en el caso de las carnes procesadas ha quedado sobradamente probado su efecto, y en el de las carnes rojas aunque también esta probado que producen cancer, hay menos datos para su análisis.
4. ¿Pero cuál es el porcentaje exacto de padecer cancer si las como?
   Realmente no se puede saber, porque en el estudio se analizan muchas carnes juntas, pero por ejemplo, con 50 gramos al día de carnes procesadas se dice que aumenta el riesgo de padecer cancer de colon en un 18%, si en España la media es un 7%, esto supone un 1,5% más, con lo que pasarías a tener un 8,5% de probabilidades de sufrir cancer a lo largo de tu vida (parece poco pero mejor reducir que aumentar). Ahora bien, si la media de consumo de estas carnes en España son 12 Kg/año por persona, eso nos deja que lo que suele comer la gente es alrededor de 30 gramos al día, una cantidad mucho menor. (en otros países como USA las cifras se disparan)

 

Ahora tengamos en cuenta la repercusión de esta noticia, ya que la amplia mayoría de la población mundial consume carne roja o procesada y hasta ahora estaba recomendado su consumo en bajas cantidades (como 1 o 2 veces a la semana).

Todas las grandes multinacionales del sector alimentación o cadenas de comida rápida dependen de las carnes rojas o procesadas.

Es más, el volumen de los animales del planeta equivale a 2 tercios de animales de granja y un tercio todos los demás animales del mundo (elefantes, ballenas, rinocerontes, hormigas...). Y sólo el la masa de las cabezas de ganado vacuno suponen mas de la mitad del peso total de todos los animales del planeta.

Hay muchos intereses en que este estudio no salga a luz, ya que sus consecuencias son enormes, tanto para el sector cárnico como para la salud de las personas.

Es una pena que den cancer, con lo rican que están. Habrá que busca otras alternativas a estos alimentos, y mientras reducir su consumo a unos mínimos saludables.
 


Os dejo con el estudio:




Fuentes:

Red Meat and Processed Meat

IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, No. 114

IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risk to Humans.

Lyon (FR): International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2018.

ISBN-13: 978-9283201526 (paperback)ISBN-13: 978-9283201809 (pdf)ISBN-13: 978-9283213376 (epub)

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This volume of the IARC Monographs provides evaluations of the consumption of red meat and the consumption of processed meat.

Red meat refers to unprocessed mammalian muscle meat (e.g. beef, veal, pork, lamb) including that which may be minced or frozen. Processed meat refers to meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation. Most processed meats contain pork or beef, but may also contain other meats including poultry and offal (e.g. liver) or meat by-products such as blood.

Red meat contains proteins of high biological value, and important micronutrients such as B vitamins, iron (both free iron and haem iron), and zinc.

Carcinogens, including heterocyclic aromatic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, can be produced by cooking of meat, with greatest amounts generated at high temperatures by pan-frying, grilling, or barbecuing. Meat processing such as curing and smoking can result in formation of carcinogenic chemicals including N-nitroso compounds and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

An IARC Monographs Working Group reviewed epidemiological evidence, animal bioassays, and mechanistic and other relevant data to reach conclusions as to the carcinogenic hazard to humans of the consumption of red meat and processed meat. The Working Group assessed more than 800 epidemiological studies that investigated the association of cancer (more than 15 types) with consumption of red meat or processed meat, including large cohorts in many countries, from several continents, with diverse ethnicities and diets.

Contents

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• NOTE TO THE READER
• List of Participants
• PREAMBLE
• GENERAL REMARKS
• 1. EXPOSURE DATA
  • 1.1. Identification of the agents
  • 1.2. Meat composition
  • 1.3. Exposure via food intake
  • 1.4. Exposure assessment and biological markers
  • 1.5. Regulations and guidelines
  • References
• 2. CANCER IN HUMANS
  • 2.1. General issues regarding the epidemiology of cancer and consumption of red meat and processed meat
  • 2.2. Cancer of the colorectum
  • 2.3. Cancer of the stomach
  • 2.4. Cancer of the pancreas
  • 2.5. Cancer of the prostate
  • 2.6. Cancer of the breast
  • 2.7. Cancer of the lung
  • 2.8. Cancer of the oesophagus
  • 2.9. Other cancers
• 3. CANCER IN EXPERIMENTAL ANIMALS
  • 3.1. Mouse
  • 3.2. Rat
  • 3.3. Haem iron
  • 3.4. Overview of cancer bioassays for chemicals related to meat consumption
  • References
• 4. MECHANISTIC AND OTHER RELEVANT DATA
  • 4.1. Digestion and metabolism
  • 4.2. Mechanisms of carcinogenesis
  • 4.3. Precancerous lesions
  • 4.4. Cancer susceptibility
  • 4.5. Meat components potentially involved in carcinogenesis
  • References
• 5. SUMMARY OF DATA REPORTED
  • 5.1. Exposure data
  • 5.2. Human carcinogenicity data
  • 5.3. Animal carcinogenicity data
  • 5.4. Mechanistic and other relevant data
• 6. EVALUATION
  • 6.1. Cancer in humans
  • 6.2. Cancer in experimental animals
  • 6.3. Overall evaluation
  • 6.4. Rationale
• List of abbreviations

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This publication represents the views and expert opinions of an IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, which met in Lyon, 6–13 October 2015

Lyon, France - 2018

IARC MONOGRAPHS

In 1969, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initiated a programme on the evaluation of the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to humans involving the production of critically evaluated monographs on individual chemicals. The programme was subsequently expanded to include evaluations of carcinogenic risks associated with exposures to complex mixtures, lifestyle factors and biological and physical agents, as well as those in specific occupations. The objective of the programme is to elaborate and publish in the form of monographs critical reviews of data on carcinogenicity for agents to which humans are known to be exposed and on specific exposure situations; to evaluate these data in terms of human risk with the help of international working groups of experts in carcinogenesis and related fields; and to indicate where additional research efforts are needed. The lists of IARC evaluations are regularly updated and are available on the Internet at http://monographs.iarc.fr/.

This programme has been supported since 1982 by Cooperative Agreement U01 CA33193 with the United States National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services. Additional support has been provided since 1986 by the European Commission Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, initially by the Unit of Health, Safety and Hygiene at Work, and since 2014 by the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation “EaSI” (2014–2020) (for further information please consult: http://ec.europa.eu/social/easi). Support has also been provided since 1992 by the United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Department of Health and Human Services. The contents of this volume are solely the responsibility of the Working Group and do not necessarily represent the official views of the United States National Cancer Institute, the United States National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or the European Commission.

Co-funded by the European Union

• Published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 cours Albert Thomas, 69372 Lyon Cedex 08, France
• ©International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2018
• On-line publication, March 2018
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The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the World Health Organization concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city, or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

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The IARC Monographs Working Group alone is responsible for the views expressed in this publication.

IARC Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Red meat and processed meat / IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (2015: Lyon, France)

(IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans ; volume 114).

1. Carcinogens 2. Red Meat – adverse effects 3. Food Additives – adverse effects 4. Diet, Western – adverse effects 5. Risk Factors

I. International Agency for Research on Cancer II. Series

ISBN 978 92 832 0180 9 (NLM Classification: W1)

ISSN 1017-1606

Cover image: © iStockphoto.com/Giorez

© International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2018. For more information contact publications@iarc.fr.