By Professor Iain M Young
Today it seems that eating sausages increases the risk of cancer. A cautionary note balanced only by the fact that all bar one of the chemicals tested was observed to be ‘cancerous’. Some would say this increasing list of dangerous goods and activities will lead us to better, longer, lives. Others sense a growing list determined to squeeze out the last possible enjoyment we have.
However, the activity that is 100% sure to lead to death is birth: there are no easy get outs from our last breath. Yet, it would be folly to ignore the fact that a balanced meal is by far the best approach to life, with the odd luxury thrown in; undoubtedly against statistical advice.
I love steak and my fondness for it only increased when arriving in Australia where it seems that ‘well done’ is not something that appears on plates in restaurants. I admit however, that rare steak is still something that I fail to appreciate, and ‘blue’ is awful.
On a recent visit to my son in Melbourne he turned to me on the street and said “Don’t panic dad, but I’m taking you to a vegetarian restaurant”. He knows me well, as where I grew up in Glasgow in the 1970’s being a vegetarian was almost as bad as being English. And yet in a busy street, and busier restaurant in Melbourne, I discovered the pleasures of mock chicken with an impressive chickpea salad. My only regret was that it was one of those arty farty restaurants that refused to sell diet coke. A step way too far in my opinion; although fizzy drinks now are also cast as dangerous goods by some.
Whilst I am always cautious of media reports – remember when butter was bad for you and whisky caused cancer in rats – it is clear that the general population is becoming far more knowledgeable about food and it has moved from rarely appearing in non mainstream media, to an issue that regularly appears in all the main news outlets. Such reports impact on young adults, like my son, who are more environmentally aware than they have ever been. This then has the potential to affect the specific food industries, that now have to deal with a new environment where not just taste and calories rule their operations, and where health factors becomes the issue of the day. This presents a real challenge also to farmers and agribusiness who have done a remarkable job ensuring that food production keeps apace with demand.
The problem of course is mainly the chemicals we add to preserve food. In the case of sausages, it’s the nitrites and nitrates that are linked to increased cancer rates. Red meat naturally has these chemicals and thus this is included on the hit list. Chicken and fish, at present, are not deemed a problem. A good summary of the current issues is found here. Make sure you read the comments as well as often they are just as informative as the main article.
However, other studies show no such link and it seems to me that many meat-eating cultures (cured meats in the Mediterranean etc) do not have higher rates of cancer than others. Of course it’s an incredibly difficult subject to look at with confounding issues not simply in food additives beyond nitrites and nitrates and where correlation rather than causation rules the day. It is however, difficult to deny that fresh food is better food and also recall that sausages were a way of making less palatable bits of meat edible in poor parts of societies – Haggis anyone…..? Reducing access to processed foods, or increasing taxes on food deemed to be unhealthy, hits the poor first. It is also important to realize that the most sought after protein in the world is meat, and the projected rise in consumption is in the developing world. I am sure that the sausage-cancer story will not have had such an impact in those countries.
Yet, there are opportunities for researchers here. How do we reduce the expression of carcinogenic chemicals in food whilst still preserving texture and taste. What meat naturally has naturally low levels of ‘bad-chemicals’? What is the benefit, economics and otherwise, of test-tube reared steak? The list is long….
In the middle of reading the many cancer-sausage articles I was reminded of two events. One fictitious in Woody Allen’s great film ‘Sleeper” where he wakes from a long-time hibernation to find out that deep fat, chocolate, cream pies and hot fudge were good for you and that wheatgerm, organic honey etc were bad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2fYguIX17Q). The other event was me standing in a supermarket in the UK wondering why during the BSE crisis in the UK there was a huge queue of old people at the meat counter. Then I realised all meat was suddenly cheap and those buying had quickly balanced the risk of eating potentially BSE contaminated meat with how long they had left on Earth in any case.
So, what do I intend to do about my meat consumption? Well my first priority is to get less fat – a low bar I know but one that I may reach. Lean fresh meat is a good option as is chicken and I love fish. My problem is that I am partial to a McD burger and this I will now treat as a luxury. Since arriving in Australia I have become a Masterchef devotee and found the true importance of butter in cooking. This will not change and I am glad butter has moved to a less dangerous category! My wife is an amazing cook, and as many ladies in Armidale know a great baker. I am fortunate that I do not have a sweet tooth and will be able to resist her sugar-laden cakes (another food horror). So, overall, I aim to eat a balanced diet and enjoy myself. I am just lucky that they do not sell Walkers Cheese and Onion crisps in Australia. My will to eat healthily crumbles when I sight a blue bag of Walkers crisps.