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Processed meat

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Type of meat
Various types of processed meat for sale at a grocery store

Processed meat is considered to be any meat that has been modified in order to either improve its taste or to extend its shelf life. Methods of meat processing include salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, and/or the addition of chemical preservatives. Processed meat is usually composed of pork or beef or, less frequently, poultry. It can also contain offal or meat by-products such as blood. Processed meat products include bacon, ham, sausages, salami, corned beef, jerky, hot dogs, lunch meat, canned meat, chicken nuggets, and meat-based sauces. Meat processing includes all the processes that change fresh meat with the exception of simple mechanical processes such as cutting, grinding or mixing.

Meat processing began as soon as people realized that cooking and salting prolongs the life of fresh meat. It is not known when this took place; however, the process of salting and sun-drying was recorded in Ancient Egypt, while using ice and snow is credited to early Romans, and canning was developed by Nicolas Appert who in 1810 received a prize for his invention from the French government. Medical health organizations advise people to limit processed meat consumption as it increases risk of colorectal cancer.

Preservatives

Nitrosyl-heme

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. Processed meat is more carcinogenic compared to unprocessed red meat because of the abundance of potent nitrosyl-heme molecules that form N-nitroso compounds.

A principal concern about sodium nitrite is Nitrosation/nitrosylation, the formation of carcinogenic nitroso-compounds in meats containing sodium nitrite or potassium nitrate, especially nitrosyl-haem (nitrosyl heme). 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.

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. 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.

Health effects

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.

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 cohort studies have found that processed meat consumption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, gastric cancer and stroke. A 2023 review found that processed red meat consumption increases risk of Alzheimer's disease.

References

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  2. "The Meat You Eat – What's Good for You?". WebMD. Retrieved 2022-05-19.
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  9. Jeyakumar A, Dissabandara L, Gopalan V (April 2017). "A critical overview on the biological and molecular features of red and processed meat in colorectal carcinogenesis". Journal of Gastroenterology. 52 (4): 407–418. doi:10.1007/s00535-016-1294-x. PMID 27913919. S2CID 20865644.
  10. Lijinsky, William (July 1999). "N-Nitroso compounds in the diet". Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis. 443 (1–2): 129–138. Bibcode:1999MRGTE.443..129L. doi:10.1016/s1383-5742(99)00015-0. PMID 10415436.
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  12. ^ "Public Health Statement for NITRATE and NITRITE". Archived from the original on 18 December 2020.
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  14. "IARC Monographs evaluate consumption of red meat and processed meat" (PDF). IARC. 26 October 2015. Retrieved 19 Sep 2022.
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  16. Liu SJ, Huang PD, Xu JM, Li Q, Xie JH, Wu WZ, Wang CT, Yang XB (2022). "Diet and gastric cancer risk: an umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies". Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology. 148 (8): 1855–1868. doi:10.1007/s00432-022-04005-1. PMID 35695929. S2CID 249613718.
  17. Guo N, Zhu Y, Tian D, Zhao Y, Zhang C, Mu C, Han C, Zhu R, Liu X (2022). "Role of diet in stroke incidence: an umbrella review of meta-analyses of prospective observational studies". BMC Medicine. 24 (1): 194. doi:10.1186/s12916-022-02381-6. PMC 9128224. PMID 35606791.
  18. Shi, Wenming; Huang, Xin; Schooling, C Mary; Zhao, Jie V (2023). "Red meat consumption, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis". European Heart Journal. 44 (28): 2626–2635. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehad336. PMID 37264855.
  19. Grant WB, Blake SM. (2023). "Diet's Role in Modifying Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: History and Present Understanding". Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 96 (4): 1353–1382. doi:10.3233/JAD-230418. PMC 10741367. PMID 37955087.
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Further reading

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

External links

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