Can eating meat eventually kill you?

Last year, in a controversial step, the World Health Organisation warned that processed meat caused cancer and red meat was also “probably” carcinogenic. The Department of Health currently advisespeople who eat 90 grams of red and processed meat a day should reduce this to 70 grams, but officials also say red meat is a “good source of protein” and also provides iron, zinc and other useful minerals.

The review, published in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, covered studies that looked at the health of a total of 1.5 million people. “Despite variability in the data, the evidence is consistent that increased intake of red meat, especially processed red meat, is associated with increased all-cause mortality,” the researchers concluded.