What is processed meats? Processed meats is defined as the meats that have been undergo fermentation, salting, smoking, curing or other processes to improves its flavour or prolong its shelf-life. Hot dogs, sausages, beef jerky, hams, canned meat, bacons and corned beef are some of the example of processed meats. In ancient time, the methods that used to prolongs the shelf-life of fresh meats are sun-drying and salting. Todays, these methods have been further developed to produce processed meats that are available on the market for sell. It is known that processed meat encompasses a lot of harmful chemicals that are not naturally found on fresh meat. According to World Health Organization (2015), it stated that processed meats is classified …show more content…
This essay will discuss about the relationship between the processes or methods that used to produce processed meat and cancer. The addition of nitrates, nitrites, salt and sugar to the meat is defined as curing of meats. The main purpose of curing meats are to improves its flavour, enhance its appearance and colour, act as a preservation and as well as prevent the growth of microorganism. It is known that, there is a relationship between the processes or methods that used to produce processed meat and cancer. There are some researchers claimed that the nitrates and nitrite compounds inside the processed meat is one of the compounds that causes cancer. The nitrite in the meat break down to formed nitric oxide and then binds to the iron atom that located in the center of myoglobin’s heme group. This is to prevent the meat being oxidise and give the meats have reddish-brown colour when raw and …show more content…
Smoking is the processed of putting the meats to the smoke of a charcoal or wood fire for cooking. The purpose of smoking meats are adding brown colour to it, enhance its flavour and prevent the growth of microorganisms. The chemicals that formed during smoking or cooking the meat using high temperature are heterocyclic amine (HCA) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) (Butler 2003). These two chemicals are mutagenic and can cause changes in DNA which lead to cancer. HCA is formed during the reaction between heat and amino acids and creatines (both found in meat). On the other hand, PAH is formed when the juices or fats from the meats dropped into the fire that use for grilled or smoking meats and causes flames. Theses flames that contain PHA will transferred to the surface of the meats by air (Butler 2003). The temperature, type of food, cooking duration and cooking method are the four factors that affects the formation of HCA. The most predominant factor is temperature. As smoking or grilling the meat at high temperature (100°C-300°C) favour the formation of HCA on the meat which cause cancer to human (Turesky 2007). Meats that are low in moisture and fat contents tend to have higher concentration of HCA after cooking. If the surface of the cooing appliance higher than 220°C, for instance grilling and smoking will favours the formation of HCA. In addition, the type of fuel used in heating, temperature of
... flesh are then ground into a paste-like matter, which is cleansed with the previously mentioned ammonia to rid it of E. coli. The meat filler product is purchased by many fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s. The Beef Products executive predicts that his product will be in 100% of hamburgers within the next five years.
Nutritionism and Today’s Diet Nutritionism is the ideology that the nutritional value of a food is the sum of all its individual nutrients, vitamins, and other components. In the book, “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan, he critiques scientists and government recommendations about their nutritional advice. Pollan presents a strong case pointing out the many flaws and problems that have risen over the years of following scientific studies and government related warnings on the proper amount of nutrients needed for a healthy diet. Pollan’s main point is introducing science into our food system has had more of a negative impact than a positive one, we should go back to eating more of a traditional diet. I believe food science has given us
Most of us do not think twice about the foods we pick up from the supermarket. Many Americans have a preconceived belief that the food being sold to us is safe, and withholds the highest standard of quality. Certainly, compared to many places in the world, this is true. But is the United States sincerely trying to carry out these standards, or have we begun to see a reverse in the health and safety of our food- and more explicitly in our meat? Jonathan Foer, author of “Eating Animals” argues for reform within the food industry- not only for the humane treatment of animals but moreover for our own health. Although Foer exposes the ills within the food industries in order to persuade readers to change their diets for the better, his “vegetarianism or die” assessment may be too extreme for most Americans. The true ills do not start with the meat, but with industrialized production of it through methods practiced by factory farming.
"Red meat and colon cancer." Harvard Health Publications. Harvard, Mar. 2008. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
Meats -- both canned and processed such as luncheon meat, cold cuts, hot dogs and sausages
...igh meat diets and cancer risk." The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 58(2):243-8, May 1999.
The earth throughout many years has dramatically change in negative way when it comes to the planet’s environment. A simple choice of choosing vegetarian diet can have positive outcome to our wildfire, the atmosphere ,and even human health. From cutting down rainforests for cow pastures to adding methane to the atmosphere, a normal meat-based diet can majorly damage many parts of world.
Meat has become a part of our culture in our country, where it is expected as part of each meal of the day. But the production of the meat raises questions on whether eating meat is ethical in people’s eyes. Studies in recent years have shown that the growing impact of our meat eating culture, has negatively affected different aspects around us. The problem is not about whether people should or should not eat meat, but that we should focus on how the production of meat can have negative affects and how we can limit those problems.
An abundance of Americans have no idea that most of the food that they consume are either processed or altered in one way or another. “Almost all beef cattle entering feedlots in the United States are given hormone implants to promote faster growth. The first product used for this purpose is DES (diethylstilbestrol) it was approved for use in beef cattle in 1954. An estimated two-thirds of the nation's beef cattle were treated with DES in 1956. (Swan, Liu, Overstreet, Brazil, and Skakkebaek)” Many people enjoy the various meats that comes from a cow, but that would probably change if the consumers knew that cattle is one of the most processed meat source in the market today because of the synthetic hormones that the cows are given. “ The three synthetic hormones are the estrogen compound zeranol, the androgen trenbolone acetate, and progestin melengestrol acetate. (Swan, Liu, Overstreet, B...
In April 2008 the In Vitro Consortium first met at the Norwegian Food Research Institute. The consortium is “an international alliance of environmentally concerned scientists striving to facilitate the establishment of a large scale process industry for the production of muscle tissue for human consumption through concerted R&D efforts and attraction of funding fuels to these efforts.”Meat in both its production and its consumption has a number of destructive effects on not only the environment and humans but also live stock. Some of these effects are antibiotic resistant bacteria due to the overuse of antibiotics in livestock, meat-borne pathogens (e. coli), and diseases associated with diets rich in animal fats (diabetes). Meat consumption all over the world is increasing making meat a global issue. As a result many researchers have been trying to create meat substitutes to minimize the impact of consumption. Substitutes, to date, have been made from soybeans, peas, or even from animal tissues grown in a culture.
Processed foods are in everybody’s lives, but are they safe? Processed foods are foods that are in boxes, cans, or bags usually containing artificial colors, flavors, and other chemical ingredients that most people can’t pronounce or recognize (SFGate). Processed Foods may taste good but can have terrible side effects. Most people don’t see the harmful effects of processed foods. Processed foods should not be eaten.
Meat is seen as this ultimate source of food. It is a rare, valuable source of food full of important nutrition which we need to survive. In the hunter gather days, 2.3million years ago, obtaining meat was difficult because it had to be hunted for (ProCon.org). Our ancestors saw meat as a source of extremely nutrient dense food that would keep them and their families from going hungry, especially in the winter. Most of the time our ancestors had to survive on the plants that they had gathered to keep themselves from going hungry. Our ancestors risked their lives just for a little bit of meat. But now, in our modern era, we have no need to hunt for food. Meat is conveniently provided to us in large quantities from meat factories. If our ancestors
America is a capitalist society. It should come to a surprise when we live like this daily. We work for profit. We’ll buy either for pleasure or to sell later for profit. It should come to no surprise that our food is made the same way because we are what we eat. We are capitalist that eat a capitalist meal. So we must question our politics. Is our government system to blame for accepting and encouraging monopolies?
What are processed foods? It is food “composed of synthetic chemical additives, such as colorings, preservatives, sugar substitutes and trans-fats” (Fitzgerald, 2006, p.72). Fitzgerald reported that by the “1970s most meats and dairy products that were factory farmed were laced with growth hormones, antibiotics and a range of pesticides” (p.72). Furthermore, food that is frozen, packaged and canned is considered processed food. A brief explanation of the chemical additives in processed food.
The health benefits of a vegetarian diet are hard to ignore. Vegetarians have a lower chance of developing many diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. Women who eat meat daily are more likely to develop breast cancer. According to an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, “consumption of well-done meats and, thus, exposures to heterocyclic amines (or other compounds) formed during high-temperature cooking may play an important role in the risk of breast cancer.” Men are also more than almost more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who do not include meat in their everyday diets. “Up to 80 percent of prostate cancer is attributed to dietary practices, and international comparisons show strong positive associations with meat consumption” (Alexander, 2010). Vegetarians have also shown to have lower blood pressure, better digestion, and more energy than humans with a meat based diet. The effects of a vegetarian life style ...