[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16557]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON MEAT

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise to set the record 
straight regarding a claim this week by the International Agency for 
Research on Cancer classifying processed meats as carcinogenic and red 
meat as a probable carcinogen.
  According to the American Cancer Society, there is a lifetime risk of 
developing colorectal cancer of 5 percent. By this organization's own 
findings, eating a cold-cut sandwich or a hot dog every day would only 
raise that risk to around 6 percent.
  Doctors with the International Agency for the Research on Cancer 
admit that the risk for someone to develop cancer due to red meat 
consumption is dwarfed by the risk caused by cigarette and alcohol 
consumption.
  With that in mind, Mr. Speaker, this study should not be used for 
scaremongering in causing people across the Nation to believe that red 
meats or processed foods are dangerous.
  The fact remains that variety is the key to a healthy, well-balanced 
diet, and that cancer is not caused by a single food.

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