Cured meat – the other carcinogen

Today I found a news story online (likely to be overlooked in light of the latest shooting spree coverage) about how a new study shows that cured meats (such as hot dogs) increase the risk of lung disease (such as emphysema), independent of other factors such as smoking.

Link (while it lasts) is here: http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1643513920070417

What is most amazing and absurd is this portion of the rebuttal by a meat industry representative: “This article in no way changes a basic fact — and that is that cured meats are among the safest meat products on the market,” said institute spokeswoman Janet Riley.

Ha! Maybe that’s true, but what does it say about the rest of the meat products on the market?