Red meat proven to cause cancer

In 2015 the International Agency for on Cancer (IARC) concluded a study that concluded that red meat and processed meat are a cause of cancer in humans, and that red meat is classified as group 2A probable carinogenic and processed meat as a group 1 carcinogenic.

 

Red Meat

**Limited evidence means that a positive association has been observed between exposure to the agent and cancer but that other explanations for the observations (technically termed chance, bias, or confounding) could not be ruled out. 

 

Processed Meat

**In the case of processed meat, this classification is based on sufficient evidence from epidemiological studies that eating processed meat causes colorectal cancer.

Study evaluation concludes:
There is sufficient evidence in humans for the
carcinogenicity of consumption of processed
meat. Consumption of processed meat causes
cancer of the colorectum. Positive associations
have been observed between consumption of
processed meat and cancer of the stomach.

Deaths per year

**According to the most recent estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project, an independent academic research organization, about 34 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are attributable to diets high in processed meat.

Eating red meat has not yet been established as a cause of cancer. However, if the reported associations were proven to be causal, the Global Burden of Disease Project has estimated that diets high in red meat could be responsible for 50 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.