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Meat group says cancer labels not warranted

The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) swiftly responded to an activist petition Thursday calling for cancer warning labels on all processed meat and poultry products. The Meat Institute issued a response to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) saying its petition has ignored numerous studies showing “no correlation between meat and cancer” and many more that list the health benefits of balanced diets that include meat.

The CSPI activist group cited the findings of the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (I-ARC) which concluded last year that processed meat is “carcinogenic to humans.” That study has been widely criticized by science-based groups since its release.

The CSPI has petitioned for warning labels on bacon, ham, hot dogs and all processed meat and poultry products that say eating those foods is associated with an increased risk of colon and rectal cancer.

The North American Meat Institute says the I-ARC study is flawed and “many more studies find no relationship between meat and colon cancer.”