With the mounting evidence that processed meats can cause cancer, the spotlight turns to the Mediterranean diet - long heralded as the bastion of healthy eating. Many Italians eat lots of Parma ham, so why don't they die young?
Experts say being fit and well is about more than just processed meat. A diet rich in fruit and vegetables, not smoking, not drinking too much and getting plenty of exercise all contribute to a long and healthy life.
The Mediterranean diet, which is also packed with fruit, vegetables and healthy oily fish, is likely to boost lifespan for Italians - even if some elements may have a question mark next to them.
Food items such as salami, ham, sausages and bacon were ranked in the highest possible category as being cancer-causing, while red meat was grouped in the next level as being a “probable carcinogen”.
Unsurprisingly, some Italians are none too pleased about these latest findings published by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
“It’s obvious that eating lots of ham and salami each day could cause problems,” one Italian butcher based in central Rome told online publication The Local.
“But Italians have grown up with meat, whether it’s a slice of salami here and there or a ham sandwich – my parents ate meat almost every day – my dad lived until he was 97 and my mother 91.”
What is red and processed meat?
Red meat includes beef, lamb and pork including minced beef, pork chops and roast lamb. It does not include chicken or turkey meat.
Processed meat refers to meat that has been preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives. Examples include ham, bacon, pastrami and salami, as well as hot dogs and some sausages. Hamburgers and minced meats only count as processed meat if they have been preserved with salt or chemical additives.
So should you eat meat?
Meat is a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals such as iron, zinc and B vitamins. It is one of the main sources of vitamin B12, also found in milk.
Advice from the Department of Health is to consume healthier meat or meat products, such as lean cuts of meat and lean mince and cut down on processed meat.
A healthy, balanced diet containing other good sources of iron - such as lentils, beans, eggs, fish, chicken, nuts and breakfast cereals - is advised.
RDA
The WHO's latest report suggests that having just 50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon or one sausage - increases the chance of developing colo-rectal cancer by 18%.
So how does that breakdown when you look at popular meat-based meals?
