Salted and smoked meat risks

For centuries, before the advent of refrigeration, meats and fish were preserved by salting or smoking over a wood-burning fire (“boucanee”) .Today, salted or smoked meats and fish are a basic part of the diet of millions of people in many parts of the world.

Many people of the southern United States and the Caribbean consume salted meat or salted fish on a regular basis.

In Trinidad and Tobago, barb- que chicken and meats are a popular food, especially on weekends.

What sort of life will it be for our Jamaican cousins without jerk chicken or jerk pork and our Barbadian cousins without the fish cook-out at Oistins? Recently a great deal of publicity has been given in the media to the possible health risks posed by eating processed, salted and smoked foods. I accept and respect the findings of the researchers of the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health, but I am nevertheless anxiously looking forward to Christmas and to enjoying my ham and hops, with chow-chow, lettuce, and tomato, as much as I am looking forward to my pastelles and ponche-decreme.

Other goodies like baked turkey and baked pork leg are eaten at other times during the year.

But “gimme” my ham and hops.

An article published in May 2010 stated that researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that eating cured, smoked and processed meats such as ham, sausage and bacon was associated with a higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer.

People who consumed an average 1.8 ounce (50 grammes) serving of processed meat each day, the amount of meat in a hot dog or a couple slices of ham or sausage, had a 42 percent higher risk of developing heart disease and a 19 percent higher risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

Processed meats were defined as any lamb, beef or pork that had been treated or preserved by smoking, salting or addition of other chemicals. Based on these findings, the researchers advised that people should be encouraged to eat less processed meat, limiting consumption to one serving or less a week.

In January 2010, an initial inquiry by the European Food Safety Authority suggested that chemicals used to “add smokey flavour” may also pose health risks.

Salted meat and fish are diet staples in North Africa, southern China, Scandinavia, in the Arctic, in some southern states in the US, and in the Caribbean. In the Age of Sail, salted meat was a staple of the mariner’s diet. The meat was stored in barrels and lasted for months. The basic Royal Navy diet consisted of salted beef, salted pork, ship’s bread, and oatmeal.

Fish is usually marinated in brine before smoking and the rub for smoked pork or beef contains a lot of salt. Salt contains sodium, which in high doses can trigger high blood pressure. Frequently eating smoked fish or smoked meat can mean a health risk from excessive sodium.

A study published in the May 2007 issue of “Epidemiology” found that post-menopausal women eating a diet high in smoked and barbecued meat had a higher risk of breast cancer.

US Department of Agriculture guidelines suggest eating smoked meats only in moderation due to this possible cancer link.

You may join me in enjoying your ham and hops, bake and buljol, salted fish and dumplings, pi g - foot s o u s e , s t e w e d peas with pig tail or barbequed ribs, but only in moderation