Meat Free Week 18th – 24th September 2017
Why go meat free for Meat Free Week?
Going meat free for one week creates a great opportunity to get Aussies thinking about how much meat they eat and the impact eating too much meat may have.
The recent WHO report recently analysed data from 10 studies resulting in the following estimates:
- For every 50-g portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk for bowel cancer by about 18%.
- For every 100-g portion of red meat eaten daily increases the risk for bowel cancer by about 18%.
The mean intake of red meat by those who consume it is about 50 to 100 g per person per day, with high consumption equalling more than 200 g per person per day, according to the report.
Australia leads the world in meat consumption at 93kg per capita per annum.
The world average meat consumption is 42 kg per person per year.
The average Australian consumes 93 kg of red meat per year (equal to an average of 250 g of red meat per day).
An increase risk of colon cancer of almost 50% would be expected based on an 18% increase for every 50 g portion.
The average life time risk for colon cancer is 1 in 12, with 80 Australians dying every day of this preventable condition