@WHO classification of processed meat as carcinogenic concerns me as parent, consumer +policymaker. Need for wide debate+decisions-JM #Malta
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) October 26, 2015
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has expressed his concern at the World Health Organisation's decision to classify processed meat as carcinogenic as he called for a wide debate.
In a tweet, Dr Muscat said the classification concerned him as a parent, consumer and policy maker.
A wide debate and decisions were needed, he said.
WHO experts said yesterday that eating processed meat could lead to bowel cancer in humans while red meat was a likely cause of the disease.
The France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of WHO, put processed meat such as hot dogs and ham in its group 1 list, which already includes tobacco, asbestos and diesel fumes, for which there is "sufficient evidence" of cancer links.