A cancer warning about the country’s favourite fast food has led to growing concerns about wider health issues in Sweden
THE FALUKORV is a Swedish institution, as familiar as Saabs and snow, sold from roadside kiosks all over Sweden.
But now the tasty treat (official translation “lightly smoked bologna sausage”) is blamed for hiking the risk of cancer, with a new study warning that munching regularly on a favourite fast food can double the chance of falling ill and contracting pancreatic and other forms of cancer.
Rather different from their image abroad as super-fit and svelte, more Swedes – and increasingly children – are eating unhealthily, and obesity and related illnesses are on the increase.
The obesity rate among Swedish children has rocketed over the past 15 years to a point where one in six is deemed seriously overweight. Experts blame fast foods, sugary drinks, more sedentary lifestyles and Swedes’ addiction to sweets for the change.
A type of hot dog, but longer and thicker, served in a soft bun with lashings of mild mustard and sweet ketchup, the Falukorv has been Sweden’s favourite snack for generations, surpassing all other processed meats in sales, particularly outside the large cities.
It is cheap, filling and warming during winter sub-zero temperatures and is sold at outlets ranging from petrol stations to little kiosks, even in the most remote corners of the country.
So the news that their beloved Falukorv may be a health time-bomb has hit Swedes hard and prompted fresh soul-searching on healthy eating.
New evidence showing the connection between the onset of pancreatic and other forms of cancer and consumption of processed meats presented in a Swedish study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found that the more you eat, the greater the risk – increasing by nearly 20 per cent for every 50g of processed meat eaten daily.
“The risk depends on the dosage – the more you eat the greater the risk,” explains Swedish scientist Susanna Larsson of the world-renowned Karolinska Institute, one of those who carried out the latest research.
“We combined seven other studies with the latest one and concluded that not the meat itself but the additives and preservatives – nitrites in particular – in it substantially increase the risk of cancer, pancreatic cancer but also stomach cancer,” says Larsson.
“Anyone who eats a lot of processed meat should reduce their consumption. I used to eat that kind of food myself until I started these studies and I stopped because I realised what was going into my body and the risks involved.”
Since Denmark introduced a tax on fats in order to help in the fight against obesity, a debate has begun in Sweden, with some nutritionists campaigning for taxes to be raised on soft drinks and saturated fat, with the income from this shifted to make fresh vegetables and other healthy foods more affordable for consumers.
Leading nutritionist Claude Marcus, arguing in favour of a fat tax to tackle obesity, says: “Sweden has never before seen as much obesity and overweight people and it’s a problem that costs 20 billion kroner [€2.3 billion] per year.
“Type 1 diabetes continues to increase and we don’t exactly know why but we know that your lifestyle certainly effects it.”
Swedes eat more than 15 kilos of sweets per year, about double the European average.
According to Anna Karin Lindross, who heads up dietary surveys for Sweden’s National Food agency, that may be a result of the popularity of pick’n’mix sweets.
Whole aisles of supermarkets are given over to the concept, and shoppers choose from a huge range of different candies, scooping their sweets into large paper bags.
“Sadly, there is no national plan in Sweden to improve our dietary habits, it’s left to local government and volunteers to do their best to spread the message,” says Lindross.
“Still, good work is often done in schools. The State pays for pupils’ lunches so nutritious food is served at school, and teachers eat with the children and use lunchtime as a chance to educate them on the benefits of healthy eating.”