WHO warns of cancer risk:

Shun processed food, say health experts

by Rohana Jayalal

With the warning from the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the potential danger of consuming processed food containing flavour enhancers, preservatives and other additives, it is time that consumers give serious thought to what they consume and put a complete halt to eating processed food containing carcinogens, a senior health official said.

The WHO has ranked bacon, ham and sausages along with cigarettes as a major cause of cancer and has placed cured and processed meats in the same category as asbestos, alcohol, arsenic and tobacco.

Health experts said processed foods aren’t necessarily unhealthy, but anything that’s been processed may contain added salt, sugar and fat. Consumers should stop consuming popular and easy to prepare food products such as sausages, ham and bacon to avoid long term health hazards. Many of the processed food though not all, contain health injurious substances added to enhance taste and attraction.

They said an advantage of cooking food at home is that you know exactly what is going into it, including the amount of salt or sugar.

Supermarket chains and retail outlets market many processed food brands which are popularized by celebrities. Officials of leading supermarket chains in the country said that all their processed food products meet local and international standards and to-date have not received any complaints regarding health issues.

A retailer said the demand for processed food such as ham, sausages and bacon has increased with the consumption of fish going down especially among children.

Retail segment operations have expanded into food manufacturing and processing-type operations, often using sophisticated new technology and equipment that are sometimes microprocessor-controlled.

Food processing operations now being conducted or proposed, include cook-chill; vacuum packaging; smoking and curing; brewing, processing and bottling alcoholic beverages, carbonated beverages, or drinking water; and custom processing of animals.

Breakfast cereals, cheese, tinned vegetables, bread, savoury snacks, such as crisps, meat products, such as bacon, ‘convenience foods’, such as microwave meals or ready meals, drinks, such as milk or soft drinks are some of the processed food products.

Food processing techniques include freezing, canning, baking, drying and pasteurising.

A dietitian said not all processed food is a bad choice. Some food needs processing to make them safe, such as milk, which needs to be pasteurised to remove harmful bacteria.

Certain foods need processing to make them suitable for use, such as pressing seeds to make oil.

“Consumers should check the ingredients, food codes, date of manufacture and expiry before purchasing a product. Food codes reveal the additives used in the preparation of the food,” an health expert said.

However, experts said due to the many ways food ingredients can be combined, it is not practical to specify the composition of all foods and generally, for foods not listed in the Food Standards Code they may contain any approved colouring, flavouring, and texture modifying additives.

Not all processed food contains food additives. Food laws in the form of regulations and standards in certain countries, control the use of food additives and only approved additives may be legally added to food. Food may contain only those additives specified in the Food Standards Code. Processed foods containing food additives must declare it on the label either by name or number. Most approved food additives have been allocated a number in the Food Standards Code which allows the specific additive to be identified. For example, the designation on a product’s label of ‘colour (102)’ means that the food contains the yellow colouring tartrazine.

Under certain circumstances it is possible that an additive present in a food which is used as an ingredient in the preparation of another food will ‘carry-over’ without being declared in the ingredient list on the label. For example, if margarine is used in the preparation of a cake, margarine will appear in the ingredient list rather than the individual components of margarine. The Food Code specifies that a HACCP plan acceptable to the regulatory authority be the basis for approving food manufacturing and processing operations.

A WHO report stated there is enough evidence to rank processed meats as group 1 carcinogenic because of a causal link with bowel cancer. It places red meat in group 2A, as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Eating red meat is also linked to pancreatic and prostate cancer the report stated. The WHO report concluded that each 50-gram (1.8-ounce) portion of processed meat eaten daily increased the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%. It stated the risk of developing colorectal cancer due to the consumption of processed meat remains small, but the risk increases with the amount of meat consumed.