* HR 839…

Short Description: DEFEND PORK & BACON

Synopsis As Introduced
Calls upon the leaders of the State of Illinois to recognize and continue to defend the importance of bacon and other pork products, along with the pork producers, to the economy, job growth, and the consumer preference of the people of Illinois.

* Erickson…

Against the backdrop of a recent report linking processed meat to cancer, six Republicans introduced a resolution last week showing their support of bacon and other pork products.

Asked Tuesday if the proposal stems from the World Health Organization report warning about the health effects of eating certain meat products, state Rep. Steve Andersson of Geneva said, “You betcha. It was in direct response to that.”

Members of the newly rendered bacon lobby include Andersson, Avery Bourne of Raymond, Grant Wehrli of Naperville, Mark Batinick of Plainfield, Reggie Phillips of Charleston and Keith Wheeler of Oswego.

All are freshmen members of the House.

* My BBQ guru is Craig “Meathead” Goldwyn. Meathead is keenly interested in the science of cooking, so, as I always do with anything meat-related, I checked his site on the topic…

The report is problematic and extensive mainstream and social media coverage has been sensational, unquestioning, and often flat out wrong.

Let’s start with the fact that of the 22 scientists from 10 countries on the panel, 15 voted for the conclusions that were published and 7 disagreed or abstained. Usually these panels seek consensus and one prominent food safety scientist I discussed the results with was surprised at how far they were from consensus. Why the significant dissent and why publish such far reaching conclusions designed to change lifestyles and damage livlihoods with a vote of only 68%? And why publish only a summary? Where is the full report? […]

Many media reports equated the meats with cigarettes because they are both Group 1. As an NPR listener and donor I was shocked to read this headline on their website “Bacon, sausage and other processed meats are now ranked alongside cigarettes and asbestos as known carcinogens.” After several days they changed it. […]

So why didn’t they say so in the document so uneducated reporters would know better than to equate cigarettes with bacon? And why not explain the risk? I want to know what the odds are that I’ll get cancer if I eat two slices of bacon with my eggs every morning. The WHO panel says that eating 50 grams of processed meat (less than 2 slices of cooked American style bacon) per day increases your odds of colorectal cancer 18%. And they leave it at that. What the heck does that mean?

The Center For Disease Control (CDC) says that over a lifetime your risk of colorectal cancer, the focus of the WHO research, is under 5%. Two slices of bacon will up the odds to less than 6% not 23% (5% + 18%) as some math challenged reporters have told us.

Heck, according to CDC data, the incidence of colorectal cancer is significantly higher in Pennsylvania than in Maryland. Should we conclude Maryland is bad for your health and evacuate everyone? […]

The panel based its conclusion by studying existing studies, a practice called meta-analysis. Many media reports claimed they looked at 800 studies, but that’s not exactly true. They started with 800 and eliminated all but 15 red meat studies and 18 processed meat studies.

Conclusion? Noted legislative bacon fan and liberal Democrat Rep. Greg Harris ought to join the bacon caucus and co-sponsor this resolution.

*** UPDATE *** From Rep. Steve Andersson…

Rich,

After your comments on the blog today about the Bacon caucus, Rep. Greg Harris called me in the spirit of bipartisanship and asked to be added to the Resolution. Done and done!

Steve

Hooray!