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Comment by m4tthumphrey | Hacker News Reader

So... don't eat processed meat. Doesn't this just correlate with what we already knew?

I'm not sure what the conclusion of this study is, but I'd like to point out that it is not the role of science to be controversial or surprising. It's really a pity that researchers who get non-exciting results feel like they've failed.

It's the role of science to be as accurate and precise as possible, and the vast majority - perhaps even all of them - fail to take into account enough variables to make it actually relevant; e.g. observational studies that target red meat being eaten don't usually differentiate from a healthy diet with red meat, high fat vs. low fat meat consumptions, nor account for what else a person is eating - e.g. ketogenic diet, if no sugars/carbs, etc.

>Unprocessed red meat intake was associated with a higher risk of IHD (ischemic heart disease), pneumonia, diverticular disease, colon polyps, and diabetes

Lower risk of IDA (Iron deficiency anaemia), but you have a higher risk with the above five

Do you even find unprocessed meat these days?

You can just buy cuts of meat at any grocery store in most western countries, can you not?

Definitely true in the EU and most of Europe in general.

Not sure about other parts of the world, though.

Yes, in the US. But a large (possibly dominant) fraction of food consumption in the US is via prepared food purchased in stores, or from restaurants. To use raw meat, you have to know how to store and prepare it yourself.

If you know how to cook, you can tell what it is, just by looking at it.

I take processed meat to mean deli meats, bacon, and cured ham. Additives are one of the things that make them damaging.

Is a filet mignon, ground beef, or chick thighs processed? Sure. But i don't think that is what we're talking about here.

Fresh meat can be processed by injecting it with water + various salts to bulk up the weight/volume by up to 15%. Depending on the legislature, it could be legally still considered fresh meat in some countries. See plumping: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumping

It's not just chickens, I've seen ground meat, and pork tenderloins in supermarkets with the same processed treatment.

Good point!

I thought pre-cook and/or treated meats meant processed in terms of the general consumer. Raw cuts of steak, pork loins and drumsticks isnt typically considered processed for the consumer. From what I know, you only call cut up raw meat "processed" if you handled the full carcass, like a butcher.

But like you said, it's the additives that we really think of as "processed". If you home make sausage with just ground meat and pork casing is that "processed" if you didnt add nitrates or edta? Technically yes, but that's where I think clear cut definitions need to be in place.

Here in Czech republic / Slovakia it's enough to read the label - if it says fresh meat, it's unprocessed meat. If it's processed, the label cannot say fresh meat anymore, it has to say meat product.

Same in Poland; all information you need is on label and AFAIK is sorted by amount of components and that also applies for variety of packaged food.

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