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Physicians' Group Responds to Smear Tactics by American Meat Institute and 
Tobacco/Meat Industry Front Group
Criticisms Are False and Anti-Public Health
August 7, 2008
http://www.pcrm.org/news/release080708.html

Washington—The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) responds 
to news releases published recently by the “Center for Consumer Freedom” 
(CCF), a group funded by the tobacco, meat, and junk food industries, and the 
American Meat Institute (AMI), a meat-industry organization that promotes 
consumption of processed meats and other unhealthful products.

Both organizations, which are funded by the meat industry, aim to confuse 
consumers about the genuine health risks posed by processed meats. Those 
risks are supported by extensive scientific research, including a recent 
landmark report from two prestigious cancer organizations—the American 
Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) and the World Cancer Research Fund. The 
AICR report concluded that when it comes to colon cancer, there is absolutely 
no amount of processed meat that's safe to eat. In fact, according to 
researchers, just one 50-gram serving of bacon, sausage, deli meats, or other 
processed meat daily increases our risk of colorectal cancer, on average, by 
21 percent.

Other cancer organizations, including the American Cancer Society and the 
National Cancer Institute, have also flagged processed meats as a cancer risk 
and recommend that consumers avoid processed meats or reduce their 
consumption of these products.

According to exposés in major media outlets, CCF was founded by tobacco 
lobbyist Rick Berman with more than $3 million from Philip Morris and 
continues to receive funding from industries that market unhealthful 
products. Through CCF and other front groups, Berman has fought against 
stricter limits on legal blood-alcohol levels, improvements in minimum wage, 
health information for consumers, and other progressive efforts that his 
commercial clients view as contrary to their interests.

Over the past few years, CCF has escalated its attacks against organizations 
that warn the public about the health risks associated with alcohol, meat, 
and other junk food products. Berman has admitted publicly that his MO is to 
“shoot the messenger” by trying to disparage the credibility of his 
opponents. His employees do not attempt reasoned discussion of the scientific 
issues about health. The long list of public health advocates in CCF’s line 
of fire includes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for speaking out against 
drunk driving, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for tackling 
food safety, the World Health Organization for addressing obesity, and 
Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

As to CCF’s and AMI’s false statements about PCRM, here’s the truth. Founded 
more than 20 years ago, PCRM is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization working to 
promote good nutrition and higher standards in both human and animal 
research. PCRM conducts clinical nutrition research and helps educate the 
public about preventive medicine, especially the multitude of health benefits 
possible with low-fat and vegetarian diets. PCRM also opposes unethical 
research. PCRM exposed experiments in which short, healthy children were to 
be injected with a genetically engineered growth hormone in an attempt to 
make them taller. PCRM also exposed the practice of using massive estrogen 
doses to suppress height in tall adolescent girls. In addition, PCRM 
vigorously promotes alternatives to the use of animals in medical education 
and research through a variety of innovative programs.

PCRM’s physicians, dietitians, and scientists are leaders in their fields. 
They publish their work in peer-reviewed academic journals, present their 
findings before scientific conferences, and serve as consultants on 
government panels. PCRM’s president Neal Barnard, M.D. (www.NealBarnard.org), 
for example, is a respected nutrition researcher whose research has been 
funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in major 
peer-reviewed journals. PCRM experts are also popular with lay audiences. 
PCRM doctors and nutritionists are frequent guests in the national and 
international media and popular writers in the lay press.

These industry organizations sometimes mistakenly charge that the American 
Medical Association (AMA) disagrees with PCRM’s nutrition policies or with 
vegetarian diets. This is patently untrue. PCRM did have disagreements with 
the AMA in the early 1990s (PCRM favored vegetarian diets, while the AMA was 
initially skeptical), but in February 2004, the AMA released a statement 
saying that its previous criticisms of PCRM’s stance on vegetarianism do not 
represent current AMA opinion or policy 
(www.pcrm.org/news/statement040218.html). There is no longer any acrimony 
between the groups. Many PCRM members are also AMA members. PCRM president, 
Neal D. Barnard, M.D., is an AMA Lifetime Member.

CCF and other meat-industry organizations also allege that PCRM acts as a 
“front” for other groups. This is another unfounded and defamatory claim. 
While CCF is indeed an industry front, PCRM is an independent, nonprofit 
organization, and has been since its founding in 1985. PCRM works with a wide 
range of organizations promoting human health, scientific research, medical 
education, and protection of animals in laboratories, as well as consumer 
groups, hospitals, universities, corporations, and other health charities. 
For more information about PCRM or an interview with one of our senior staff, 
please call PCRM’s Communications Department at 202-686-2210, ext. 316.

Exposés and other background information about the Center for Consumer 
Freedom:

    * The San Francisco Chronicle
    * The Washington Post
    * USA Today
    * The American Prospect
    * ABC-TV, San Francisco
    * Source Watch

Background information about processed meats and cancer risk:

    * The American Institute for Cancer Research advises consumers to “avoid 
processed meats.”

    * A study conducted by American Cancer Society researchers concludes that 
“[p]eople who ate the most processed meats were 50% more likely to develop 
colon cancer and 20% more likely to develop rectal cancer compared to those 
who ate the least.”

    * The American Cancer Society encourages people to “[l]imit intake of 
processed and red meats.”

    * The National Cancer Institute: “Red meat and processed meat are 
associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer, and there is also 
suggested evidence for some other cancers, such as prostate cancer.”

    * A meta-analysis in Journal of the National Cancer Institute concludes 
that “Increased consumption of processed meat is associated with an increased 
risk of stomach cancer.”

    * USA Today article: “Put down that bacon! Report emphasizes cancer-fat 
links”

Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a 
nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially 
good nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes 
unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research.