Dietary intake of different types and characteristics of processed meat which might be associated with cancer risk - results from the 24-hour diet recalls in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Jakob Linseisen*, Sabine Rohrmann, Teresa Norat, Carlos A. Gonzalez, Miren Dorronsoro Iraeta, Patrocinio Morote Gomez, Maria-Dolores Chirlaque, Basilio G. Pozo, Eva Ardanaz, Irene Mattisson, Ulrika Pettersson, Richard Palmqvist, Bethany Van Guelpen, Sheila A. Bingham, Alison McTaggart, Elizabeth A. Spencer, Kim Overvad, Anne Tjonneland, Connie Stripp, Francoise Clavel-ChapelonEmmanuelle Kesse, Heiner Boeing, Kerstin Klipstein-Grobusch, Antonia Trichopoulou, Effie Vasilopoulou, George Bellos, Valeria Pala, Giovanna Masala, Rosario Tumino, Carlotta Sacerdote, Mariarosaria Del Pezzo, H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Marga C. Ocke, Petra Hm Peeters, Dagrun Engeset, Guri Skeie, Nadia Slimani, Elio Riboli

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective: There is increasing evidence for a significant effect of processed meat (PM) intake on cancer risk. However, refined knowledge on how components of this heterogeneous food group are associated with cancer risk is still missing. Here, actual data on the intake of PM subcategories is given; within a food-based approach we considered preservation methods, cooking methods and nutrient content for stratification, in order to address most of the aetiologically relevant hypotheses.

Design and setting: Standardised computerised 24-hour diet recall interviews were collected within the framework of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), a prospective cohort study in 27 centres across 10 European countries.

Subjects: Subjects were 22 924 women and 13 031 men aged 35 - 74 years.

Results: Except for the so-called 'health-conscious' cohort in the UK, energy-adjusted total PM intake ranged between 11.1 and 47.9 g day(-1) in women and 18.8 and 88.5 g day(-1) in men. Ham, salami-type sausages and heated sausages contributed most to the overall PM intake. The intake of cured (addition of nitrate/nitrite) PM was highest in the German, Dutch and northern European EPIC centres, with up to 68.8 g day(-1) in men. The same was true for smoked PM (up to 51.8 g day(-1)). However, due to the different manufacturing practice, the highest average intake of NaNO2 through PM consumption was found for the Spanish centres (5.4 mg day(-1) in men) as compared with German and British centres. Spanish centres also showed the highest intake of NaCl-rich types of PM; most cholesterol- and iron-rich PM was consumed in central and northern European centres. Possibly hazardous cooking methods were more often used for PM preparation in central and northern European centres.

Conclusions: We applied a food-based categorisation of PM that addresses aetiologically relevant mechanisms for cancer development and found distinct differences in dietary intake of these categories of PM across European cohorts. This predisposes EPIC to further investigate the role of PM in cancer aetiology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)449-464
Number of pages16
JournalPublic Health Nutrition
Volume9
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006

Keywords

  • EPIC
  • diet
  • processed meat
  • 24-hour dietary recall
  • Europe
  • nutrients
  • preservation
  • cooking methods
  • N-NITROSO COMPOUNDS
  • POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC-HYDROCARBONS
  • DONE RED MEAT
  • LUNG-CANCER
  • COLORECTAL-CANCER
  • HETEROCYCLIC AMINES
  • PROSTATE-CANCER
  • CHOLESTEROL OXIDATION
  • ANIMAL PRODUCTS
  • GASTRIC-CANCER

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Dietary intake of different types and characteristics of processed meat which might be associated with cancer risk - results from the 24-hour diet recalls in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this