Processed Meats Linked to 74 Percent Higher Risk of Leukemia
By Mike Adams, January 29, 2009
New research published in the journal BMC Cancer reveals that children who eat processed meats like bacon, hot dogs and sausage are 74 percent more likely to develop leukemia than children who avoid such processed meats and eat more vegetables and tofu instead.
This study, carried out in part by Dr. David C. Christiani of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, and it's just one of many research studies linking processed meats to leukemia, pancreatic cancer and colorectal cancer.
What causes processed meats to promote cancer? Sodium nitrite, of course: It's a cancer-causing chemical intentionally added to processed meat products to make them turn red and appeal to the visual expectations of consumers. When eaten, sodium nitrite results in the formation of nitrosamines which are known carcinogenic chemicals.
The USDA and FDA have known about hit issue since at least the 1970's, but they have both refused to protect consumers by banning sodium nitrite from the food supply. So the chemical additive is still in all processed meat products sold in America today: Hot dogs, sausages, bacon, sandwich meats, ham, pepperoni and many more. It's also in deli meats like the ones sold at popular sandwich chain restaurants.
If you don't want cancer, don't eat processed meat! Fresh meat, of course, has no sodium nitrite in it, so if you're going to eat meat, choose fresh meat rather than processed meat.
From Reuters.com: Researchers found that among 515 Taiwanese children and teenagers with and without acute leukemia, those who ate cured meats and fish more than once a week had a 74 percent higher risk of leukemia than those who rarely ate these foods.... more