Meat industry should introspect before trashing WHO

A recent well-researched report on the risks of eating red meat has upset meat lovers and the meat industry alike.

On Oct 26, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer released the report, based on hundreds of studies, which said processed meat could increase risk of colon cancer. It even said unprocessed red meat like beef, mutton, steak and lamb shanks could be "possibly carcinogenic".

The global processed meat industry, whose sales are worth hundreds of billions of dollars each year, was not amused by the WHO report that included their products in the same category as smoking and asbestos.