Study links meat to cancer risks

Food and drink are the most important influences on the risk of cancer, according to an international study published by the World Cancer Research Fund. By changing diet, particularly eating more foods of plant origin, the global incidence of cancer should be reduced by 30 to 40 per cent a year, it predicts. That would mean a reduction of four million cases.

The study, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective, is based on more than 4,000 studies on diet and cancer, carried out by a panel of 15 scientists from nine countries.

Diets based on foods of plant origin were found to be the key factor in cancer prevention - diets rich in vegetables, fruits, breads, grains, pasta, potatoes and pulses - rather than foods of animal origin.

A healthy diet, regular exercise and a healthy body weight could have a dramatic impact on the three most common cancers (lung cancer, throat/mouth cancer and breast cancer), the WCRF report says.

Healthy lifestyles that included not smoking would prevent between 60 and 70 per cent of cancers, says the study, which was issued in London. It recommends that people should eat no more than one portion of red meat a day.

One of the panel members, Prof Philip James, architect of the new British Food Standards Agency, said: "Reliable evidence accumulated over the last 15 years shows that what we eat and drink is crucial in determining our risk of cancer."