MEAT+POULTRY - November 2015 - 8

C O M M E N TA R Y

Business as usual
Four days after the meat industry's Black Monday - the
day the World Health Organization announced that
processed meat is carcinogenic and that red meat is
probably carcinogenic - I was shopping the meat case at
my local supermarket. I asked an employee if the recent
news had turned the meat department desolate, like a
boarded-up neighborhood in a bad part of town.
The employee rolled his eyes, noting that most people
have become utterly annoyed at such reports. And, no, the
meat department hadn't gone the way of Chernobyl, he
told me. It had been as busy as ever.
A few days later, I stopped by
the deli department at another
area supermarket. "Everything is
the same," the deli clerk told me
when I asked him if the cancer
report had any impact.
Something tells me that it's
business as usual at most meat
departments and delis throughout
the US and the world.
I'm the last of the baby
boomers, born in the early 1960s,
and I've seen the "Meat Causes
Cancer" movie many times before.
Like a lot of people, I'm tired of it.
Turn the channel, please.
Something
It seems every year there is
tells me that
another report linking meat to
it's business
cancer. It never fails. But this time,
because the report was coming
as usual at
from the all-powerful World Health
most meat
Organization, it was really big
departments.
news - and the media went along
for the ride. The report topped
newscasts and was the lead story in many newspapers and
online news agencies.
At the risk of sounding jaded, flippant and even
arrogant - but at this point I don't care if I do - I must ask:
What doesn't cause cancer these days?
There's the air and the sun, of course. And then there is
hair dye and possibly cell phones.
It's almost like we can't decide what causes cancer and
what doesn't. Several years ago the WHO reported that
coffee was "possibly carcinogenic." Now there are studies
out that say coffee drinkers are 50 percent less likely to
suffer from cancer than non-coffee drinkers. (That whir
sound you hear is of people's heads spinning.)

8

MEAT+ POULTRY | 11.15 | www.meatpoultry.com

I know I'm preaching to a great big choir. And you need
to know that I'm not shilling for the industry because I
happen to work for this magazine.
I'm speaking as a middle-aged consumer. In fact, I'm as
Joe Consumer as you can get.
And that's my point. The Joe and Jane Consumers of
the world - the ordinary, average people - aren't going to
freak out over this report and stop eating processed meat
and poultry or stop feeding it to their families. They will
continue to eat and enjoy these products as they always
have. They realize it's more dangerous to drive on the
interstate than it is to eat a bologna sandwich.
So my message to the meat and poultry industry is: This
too shall pass (if it already hasn't by the time you read this.)
That said, it's vital that the industry keep promoting
the message that meat and poultry products can be part of
a healthy diet. I very much agree with the statement from
Rick Williamson, manager of external communications for
Hormel Foods Corp., that "the very important nutrients in
meat far outweigh any theoretical hazard."
While I'm not afraid of getting cancer from eating
processed meat and poultry, I am concerned about gaining
too much weight from eating too many cheeseburgers and
too much fried chicken, not to mention over-indulging in
other high-calorie foods such as sweets. But that's on me,
as well as it is on other consumers. Everybody should
know that being overweight can lead to a whole buffet of
problems - high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes
and...dare I say...cancer. But considering that 35 percent
of US adults are classified as obese, a lot of us aren't
getting the message.
Look, I know that meat and poultry products can be
part of a healthy diet, but the industry needs to do a better
job of hammering home these attributes, especially at
the fast-food level. If the meat and poultry industry aligns
itself with more healthy marketing, maybe we will see a
different movie next year and not be inclined to want to
turn the channel.
L AW R E N C E AY LWA R D, E D I TO R | l a y l w a rd @ s o s l a n d.c o m
http://www.meatpoultry.com
MEAT+POULTRY - November 2015

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