Red alert regarding red meat

Telegraph Online recently quoted British scientists as saying that one ought not to consume too much red meat - no more than 70 grams per day, or half a kilo spread across a whole week - if one is to avoid the risk of cancer, the dreaded disease that can grow anywhere in the human body. In the UK alone, just a 30 per cent decrease in the intake of all kinds of meat could save 18 thousand Brits from premature death, according to a former health official in England. That certainly does not apply to the 'machhe-bhate' people in this part of the world. Most of our beef or mutton lovers can hardly afford to gorge on this fleshfood too often - except for the moneyed class - and even if they do have access, the portions consumed are nowhere near the standard European or American servings. Indeed, there are large swathes of people in Bangladesh who rarely get to taste beef or mutton. Some are lucky may be once a year only. And that's during the Eid-ul Azha when poor folk manage to get a share from one-third of the sacrificial animals reserved for them according to the Quranic edit. At least that is the observation of one member of the Quantum Foundation in Bangladesh. Involved in developing the spiritual intelligence of its members, the Foundation has made it a tradition to sacrifice a good number of animals every year during Eid-ul Azha in their Centre at Lama in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and share the meat with thousands of people in the neighbourhood. But the gluttons had better beware, though there is no end to the debate as to how the red meat factor can be potentially carcinogenic. Some blame drugs and hormones in the animals bred for meat, or additives during processing, while others think it is something else in the beef, mutton or bacon that hurts the DNA in the digestive tract, thus laying the foundation for cancer cells to form. Other factors not mentioned here are contamination from radioactive elements, petrochemical and heavy metal toxins in the food chain and tobacco of course. What gets focussed depends perhaps on the mood of the reporters! Be that as it may, in this context one wonders whether Taiwanese citizens are upset with their government for having indirectly restricted their beef intake recently. It claims to have put public health above everything else by imposing restrictions on imported US beef, the country's main source of red meat. This the Taiwanese government has done after it was found that recent consignments of American beef contained a drug, Paylean, which is used to promote leanness in animals raised for meat. Last month Taiwan pulled shipments of US beef off store shelves despite warnings from US lawmakers that the action might 'cripple free trade talks.' But, the restrictions are not aimed at the US, said a spokesman for the Taiwanese health department. The drug is shunned not only by Taiwan but also China and the European Union because of suspected health risks from the ingredient ractopamine. However, 26 other countries, including the US, Canada, Australia and Brazil, consider the drug safe enough. It is not known what drugs are pushed into our animals that are raised for the meat market but it certainly should be made known and seen that they are not harmful for humans. The consumer protection lobby should look into it sooner rather than later.