Eating processed meat can cause cancer, World Health Organization experts said Monday.
Processed meat is meat that has been preserved by curing, salting, smoking, drying or canning. Experts from the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, studied 800 cases. IARC researchers linked processed meat, such as hot dogs and ham, to bowel cancer, as well as pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer.
The IARC has included processed meat in its group 1 list, for which there is “sufficient evidence” of links to cancer. Tobacco, asbestos, and diesel fumes are also on the group 1 list. WHO experts also called red meat, including beef, lamb and pork, “probably” carcinogenic (致癌的) to humans.
Dr. Kurt Straif is with the IARC. He said in a statement that the risk of cancer increases with the amount of meat a person eats. A person who consumes 50 grams of processed meat per day – about two pieces of bacon-increases his or her risk of bowel cancer by 18 percent. Health experts in some countries already advise against eating large amounts of red and processed meat. But those advisories had been centered on the increased risks of heart disease and obesity.
Meat industry groups are protesting the WHO study. They say that meat is part of a balanced diet. They also say the causes of cancer are broad, and include environmental and lifestyle factors.
The WHO report cited the Global Burden of Disease project, which estimates that diets high in processed meat lead to 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.
25. According to the text, which of the following does not belong to red meat?
A. pork B. chicken C. beef D. lamb
26. In Dr. Kurt’s view, which of the following statement is TRUE?
A. Meat is absolutely harmful to people’s health.
B. Eating meat can cause bowel cancer for sure.
C. A person will not develop cancer if he or she consumes less than 50 grams of processed meat a day.
D. The more a person eats red or processed meat, the more likely he is to suffer from bowel cancer.
27. The main idea of the last but one paragraph is ________.
A. Meat industries’ protest against the study of WHO on red and processed meat.
B. Red meat and processed meat are considered a balanced diet by some meat industries.
C. There are some other factors causing cancer.
D. Bad environment and unhealthy lifestyle may result in cancer to some extent.
28. The best title of the text might be ________.
A. Factors Causing Cancers
B. A New WHO Study on Meat
C. WHO: Red and Processed Meat Can Cause Cancer
D. Meat Industry’s Protest against the Study on Meat