Processed meats have always been viewed as unhealthy. The debate regarding how unhealthy it actually is left the answer in a very grey area, until recently. As David Lee explains on his blog, “a recent report from the World Health Organization has classified processed and red meats as carcinogens.” The reason it has been deemed “carcinogenic to humans” is due to the fact that it has been linked to causing cancer in those who consume the processed meat; it has been placed in the same group as tobacco. This is very bad news for restaurants that use processed beef and red meat, and especially for those people who have consumed large quantities of the delicious carcinogens.

So people shouldn’t eat processed beef. Seems simple enough. Unfortunately, not even the natural beef industry can be trusted. An outbreak of E Coli linked to beef in North America has been reported, widely known to have caused Chipotle to shut down 43 locations in its chain temporarily. This was as a result of multiple cases of E Coli poisoning being linked to the meat Chipotle was serving. As agreed to by both David Lee and Jamie Boyle, people will most likely continue to buy processed beef and red meat, despite the health implications made by the WHO. Although the retail of the processed meat has not been altered or restricted, the foundation has been set to cease its production in the future.

References: https://blogs.ubc.ca/dlee/, http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/cancer-meat-red-processed-iarc-1.3293541, https://www.rt.com/usa/320573-chipotle-food-poisoning-e-coli/