Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 1029/15


The U.S. Department of Agriculture should stop distributing hot dogs and other processed meats to children through the National School Lunch Program, according to a petition filed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a group that promotes a meatless lifestyle.
The group filed the petition Oct. 27 with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, one day after the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) reported that it had determined that processed meats are “carcinogenic to humans.”

The petition calls on USDA to stop offering processed meats for purchase, subsidy and reimbursement under the National School Lunch Program and National School Breakfast Program. The petition asks USDA to encourage schools that offer processed meats to include alternatives to these products in menus.
PCRM has asked the USDA to:
• Discontinue the inclusion of processed meat and poultry on the list of commodities available for purchase from USDA under the Child Nutrition Commodity Programs, including the National School Lunch Program.
• Discontinue reimbursement, under the Child Nutrition Commodity Programs, including the National School Lunch Program, to schools for lunches that include processed meat.
• Discontinue the process of soliciting and accepting bids for redistribution, through the Child Nutrition Commodity Programs, of processed meat products, including ham, luncheon meat, pork sausage crumbles, pork sausage links, pork sausage patties, pork sloppy joes, and any other processed meat or poultry found to increase the risk of cancer.
• Require the FNS nutrition education program to provide information and educational material to state agencies, schools, parents, and students regarding the harmful effects of processed meat on human health.
• Encourage schools that offer processed meat to offer alternatives to processed meat in their meal plans and at school-hosted functions.

“The National School Lunch Program should help create carcinogen-free cafeterias," PCRM Director of Nutrition Education Susan Levin said in a news release. "Keeping hot dogs, pepperoni, and other USDA processed meat commodities off school lunch trays is a step in the right direction.”
The group filed a similar petition in 2006.

The IARC concluded the consumption of processed meat was associated with small increases in the risk of cancer in the studies reviewed but also noted that eating meat has known health benefits and did not make any recommendations on suggested consumption levels.  

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