It’s Not Red Meat, It’s Processed Meats

The consumption of processed meats, such as bacon, sausage, and ham, has been shown to increase mortality…. 

To examine the effects of processed meat, Dr. Sabine Rohrman, from the University of Zurich, and colleagues conducted a study in middle-aged adults over 12 years.

A high consumption of processed meat was correlated to a doubled risk of all-cause mortality compared with low-consumption.

In participants eating more than 160 g/d of processed meat, the risk of cardiovascular death was increased by more than 70% versus those that consuming 10 to 19.9 g/d. Dr. Rohrman concludes, "The clinical message, in our opinion, is that it’s okay to eat some meat, but to limit consumption of processed meat: not every day and not in high amounts."

The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study published in BMC Medicine comparing the all-cause mortality of red meat and processed meat.

The results of the study showed that high consumption of processed meat has an 18% greater risk of all-cause mortality than red meat. The author notes that processed meat contains higher amounts of saturated fat, cholesterol, and additives compared to unprocessed meat. Also, the author explains that the salt and heme iron content of processed food are CVD risk factors. The results of the study estimated that "3% of premature deaths each year could be prevented if people ate less than 20 g of processed meat per day."

Rohrmann S, Overvad K, Bueno-de-Mesquita HB, et al. Meat consumption and mortality. Results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. BMC Med 2013.