Americans can't kick their love of processed meats, even though they are eating les red meat than they were 18 years ago.
A recent study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has revealed that Americans are eating the same amount of processed meats - ham, bacon, sausage, hot dogs, luncheon meats etc - as they were almost two decades ago.
Processed meats account for one quarter of all red meat and poultry eaten in the United States every year.
Americans are, however, eating more poultry and less red meat than they were 18 years ago. They are not consuming any more fish and seafood than they were in 1999.
Researchers at Tufts University evaluated nearly two decades of National Center of Health Statistics diet recall data collected from nearly 44,000 adults, ages 20 and older, in two-year cycles. The dates were 1999-2000 and 2015-16.
An NBC News report on the study says that while the US Government guidelines include processed meat as part of a balanced diet, as long as they do not exceed the recommended daily sodium or fat intake, the World Health Organisation classifies the food as carcinogenic and advises against eating it.
The American Cancer Society Guidelines on Nutrition and Physical Activity for Cancer Prevention recommend choosing fish, poultry or beans instead of red or processed meat, the new report states.
