Food - Drink
The Link Between Charcuterie And Cancer Was Just Strengthened
By GILLIE HOUSTON
While sliced meats such as salami and prosciutto make a great pre-dinner party snack, the French Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational health and Safety (ANSES) is warning consumers against excess. In July 2922, ANSES determined that consuming too many cured and processed meats may increase your chances of developing cancer.
Referencing a 2015 report from the World Health Organization, ANSES is zeroing in on nitrites and nitrates used in processed meats. Nitrates and nitrites are compounds used in a variety of processed foods to improve flavor and shelf life, but studies have shown a connection between frequent consumption of nitrates and cancers in the breasts, pancreas, kidneys, and ovaries.
In 2015, the United Nations International Agency for Research on Cancer officially classified processed meats as a type 1 carcinogen, and earlier this year, the French parliament even proposed a potential nitrate and nitrite ban. This proposal included risk labels on processed meat packages, similar to cancer warning labels on cigarette packages.
The French government later clarified that nitrites and nitrates will not be banned, but they do plan to cut down on use of these compounds, and their new weekly recommended amount of processed meats is a mere 5 ounces for adults. Processed meats are defined as being "transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes".