McDONALD’S says:
“This year McHappy Day will be celebrated on Saturday 9th November and we are calling on all Australians to get involved to help us reach our fundraising goal of $3.4 million. Now in its 23rd year, McHappy Day has raised over $20 million for RMHC . . . These funds have enabled Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) to continue to provide much needed programs and services to seriously ill children and their families.”
So are McDonald’s simply responding to various outcomes of people consuming their products? Here’s some food for thought:
HARVARD UNIVERSITY:
“Eating red meat is associated with a sharply increased risk of death from cancer and heart disease, according to a new study, and the more of it you eat, the greater the risk.”
WORLD CANCER RESEARCH FUND:
“There is strong evidence that red and processed meats are causes of bowel cancer, and that there is no amount of processed meat that can be confidently shown not to increase risk. . . . Try to avoid processed meats such as bacon, ham, salami, corned beef and some sausages.”
CSIRO SCIENTISTS INFORM THE CSIRO BOARD IN APRIL 2006:
Recent findings from [CSIRO] scientists have established that diets high in red meat, processed meats and the dairy protein casein can significantly increase the risk of bowel cancer.
NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE AND LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY:
“Studies comparing levels of [cancer-promoting growth hormone] IGF-1 in meat-eaters vs. vegetarians vs. vegans suggest that we should lean toward eliminating animal products from our diets altogether. This is supported by the new study in which the thousands of American vegans studied not only had lower rates of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, but significantly lower cancer risk as well.”
SOUNDS PRETTY CONVINCING TO ME. I THINK I’LL STEER CLEAR OF McDONALD’S ON SATURDAY 9TH NOVEMBER AND EVERY DAY BEFORE AND AFTER.
Blog Author: Paul Mahony (Also on Twitter, Scribd and Slideshare)
References:
Bakalar, N., “Risks: More Red Meat, More Mortality”, The New York Times, 12 March, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/health/research/red-meat-linked-to-cancer-and-heart-disease.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=red%20meat%20harvard&st=cse#
World Cancer Research Fund, http://www.wcrf.org/cancer_research/expert_report/recommendations.php
Russell, G., “CSIRO Perfidy”, Vivid Publishing, 2009, http://www.perfidy.com.au/
Freston, K., “A Vegan Diet (Hugely) Helpful Against Cancer”, Huffpost Healthy Living, 9 December 2012, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegan-diet-cancer_b_2250052.html?ref=topbar&utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=3513286,b=facebook
Image: Child and fast food © Andrey Armyagov | Dreamstime.com
Notes:
None of the information in this article is intended to represent health, medical, dietary, nutritional or similar advice.
The CSIRO is Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
Information on the World Cancer Research Fund can be found here.
This article contains material that first appeared in my article “If you think it’s healthy to eat animals, perhaps you should think again” of 12 February, 2013
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