Good thing we all swore off hot dogs last week because eating them may lead to cancer. A bold declaration by the World Health Organization points the finger at processed meats like hot dogs, sausages and bacon, saying there's "sufficient evidence" that consumption of these products "causes colorectal cancer." They also stated that red meat is "probably carcinogenic to humans" and could lead to not only colorectal cancer but also pancreatic and prostate cancers.
The link between consumption of red meats and an increased cancer risk has been explored before, but the WHO's stance is one of the most definitive, living no wiggle room to their findings. The panel of 22 international experts stated in no uncertain terms that eating 50 grams of processed meat daily increased the risk for colorectal cancer by 18%, citing decades worth of documentation on the subject.
The meat lobby and others were quick to denounce the findings, going to far as to say the WHO "tortured the data" to arrive at their conclusion. Still, multiple studies came to similar conclusions regarding health risks associated with eating processed and red meats and furthermore, conventional agriculture/farming is a huge contributor to climate change. Either way, meat is murder.
