Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 12/28/17


Scientific institutions issuing press releases about a link between meat consumption and cancer should clarify the information for media outlets so that the information is reported more accurately.

So says new research out of Germany that looked at how 13 German newspapers and magazines covered a press release issued Oct. 26, 2015, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) about a link between meat consumption and colorectal cancer.  

German researchers analyzed the articles for comprehensibility and correctness, and assessed the criteria used by the newspapers and magazines to judge the credibility of the research results.

IARC said “each 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent."

However, the German researchers note that the IARC press release used relative risks, which 11 of 13 print media adopted. They contend that readers could misinterpret such wording to mean an increase of 18 percentage points, and so absolute risks would be preferred.

But only six print media reported absolute risks. Five print media, meanwhile, misleadingly reported thresholds for safe meat consumption.

Other mistakes included vague descriptions of the index group (e.g. "excessive meat consumption" without specifying the exact amount of grams/day) and the reference group, and lack of time periods for which risks were estimated.

The media study also assessed the criteria used by the newspapers and magazines to judge the credibility of the research results, and found them to be lacking.

The German researchers concluded, “Scientific institutions should attach more importance to an understandable presentation of measures of occurrence, measures of effects and important sources of bias in press releases. In the case of meat consumption and colorectal cancer, a higher quality of the press release by the IARC — in particular, reporting absolute instead of relative risks — would probably have led to less misleading publications in the print media.”

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