Food – it’s just so problematic

Splashed across the front page of the METRO “Eating one sausage a day raises cancer risk 20 per cent”. It’s not clear just how many days of one sausage per day are required to increase the risk to this extent although Professor Martin Wiseman of the charity World Cancer Research Fund indicates that it is regular diners who are in extra danger. It appears that it is the preservation processes that are to blame whether they be salting, smoking or adding additional preservatives. The safety of the food we eat is always a cause for concern. In this case it appears that there is a trade off between increasing shelf life i.e. preventing the growth of harmful bacteria which cause food poisoning and the effect of those preserving processes on our susceptibility to particular forms of cancer. The next big thing in food technology – nano foods – will almost certainly give cause for concern. Is this concern justified? Find out more..

Last modified: 20 January 2010