American Meat Institute Calls WCRF Panel Recommendations on Meat Consumption Extreme and...( Institute Says Alarmist Messages ...),Health

Institute Says Alarmist Messages Reflect Group's Anti-Meat Bias, Stand in Sharp Contrast to U.S. Dietary Guidelines and Plain Common Sense

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Meat Institute (AMI) today said that World Cancer Research Fund's (WCRF) recommendations to limit red and processed meat intake to extremely low levels reflect WCRF's well-known anti-meat bias and should be met with skepticism because they oversimplify the complex issue of cancer, are not supported by the data and defy common sense.

"WCRF's conclusions are extreme, unfounded and out of step with dietary guidelines," said AMI Foundation Vice President of Scientific Affairs Randy Huffman, Ph.D. "Headlines associated with this report may give consumers another case of nutrition whiplash. The consistent finding in diet and cancer research is inconsistency," he added. "No health groups should be dispensing clear-cut recommendations on specific foods when studies continue to contradict each other time after time." Huffman stressed that the recommendations stand in sharp contrast to mainstream advice in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.

The causes of cancer are extremely complex and involve factors like genetics, the environment, lifestyle and a host of other issues, Huffman noted. "Given the complexities and conflicting research findings, it is inconceivable that WCRF could draw definitive conclusions and make such precise recommendations about specific food categories," he said.

Harvard Data Showing No Relationship Between Meat and Colon Cancer Not Considered

Huffman expressed strong concern that all relevant research was not considered by the WCRF panel. In particular, he noted that the largest study ever done on red meat and colon cancer -- a 2004 Harvard School of Public Health analysis involving 725,000 men and women and presented at the 2004 American Association for Cancer Research Conference -- showed no relationship between the
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