The cancer or the beetroot?

 I made this home-grown 
1 kg beetroot into a big 
pot of borscht -

nutritious and delicious.

I once saw a German postcard which showed a class of rather mutinous-looking early twentieth century school children, inscribed with the words (my translation) “Teachers are the people who help us solve the problems we wouldn't have without them.”

I was reminded of this when reading a story in my local paper about yet another scientific attempt to make industrial food slightly less dangerous. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen are investigating including an extract of beetroot in hamburger patties. This is part of a wider Scottish Government funded project being undertaken at the Rowett Research Institute of Nutrition and Health, investigating the potential health benefits of Scottish produce.

According to the university's media release on the subject the Rowett researchers believe that beetroot (which contains antioxidants) stops the body from absorbing the ‘bad’ fat found in burgers. The lead researcher, Professor Garry Duthie, says that “Processed food forms a major and increasing part of our diet. Consumption of high fat convenience foods in Scotland increases year by year. We are looking to identify if adding a vegetable extract to processed food can actually protect the body from absorbing the ‘bad’ fats which exist in these types of products.”

Those fats contain compounds which contribute to causing cancer. Other carcinogenic compounds are formed when meat is cooked, or preserved using the common preservatives, such as nitrites. This is the reason why the second expert report on food, nutrition, physical activity, and the prevention of cancer produced by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute of Cancer Research in 2008 (The Second Expert Report on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective) recommends that the public health goal for meat consumption should be a population average consumption of red meat of no more than 300 g (11 oz) a week, very little if any of which should be processed meat. For adult individuals the recommendation is to eat less than 500 g (18 oz) of red meat a week, and very little or no processed meat.

There are other reasons why reducing meat consumption is good for your health – many of them documented by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which focuses on improving health by improving nutrition. One wonders whether the scientists at the Rowett Research Institute of Nutrition and Health are aware of these reasons, or of the studies on how to improve adult diets effectively. It certainly does not look like it, if Prof. Duthie can so sanguinely accept that high fat food consumption in Scotland is already a major problem, that it will continue to increase, and that the 'solution' to it is technological tinkering with rubbish foods.

Even if this particular bit of tinkering proves successful and it is possible to create a non-carcinogenic hamburger patty by lacing it with beetroot extract – what then? Is the Scottish government going to make it mandatory for all patties sold in Scotland to be so laced? How will the multinational burger chains like that? The more one thinks about it, the sillier it gets. Also, if this is supposed to be part of an investigation into the health benefits of local produce – where's the produce?

Health comes in whole foods, not in medicinal extracts. In comparison to meat, fresh whole beetroot is highly nutritious, fat-free and safe to eat in amounts well in excess of 500g per week. Cooking it does not create carcinogenic compounds. It can be made into salads, soups, main and side dishes and even cakes. I am sure that it is served regularly at Henderson's, the outstanding vegetarian restaurant in Edinburgh, which is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The majority of Henderson's regular customers are not vegetarians – they go there because the food is so good.

The Scottish government needs to note from the Henderson's example that Scots will eat their veges if they are properly prepared, and from American intervention studies that if they are taught how to do vegetable selection and preparation for themselves they will make significant nutrition and health gains. If I were the Scottish government and wanted the Scots to eat better, I would not be wasting money on the food fiddlers at the Rowett Institute, who are doing nothing that will help the public eat less meat and more fresh produce. Until governments are prepared to study and fund what really works in improving diets, and/or take notice of existing research that provides evidence on what is already working - this includes more/easier access to fresh produce, higher taxes or other disincentives on 'bad' foods, targeted education interventions, free fresh fruit in schools, stopping the sale of junk foods and drinks in schools, bans or heavy restrictions on junk food advertising and sponsorships, fresh food gardens and kitchens in schools, and urban/peri-urban agriculture - the Scots and other nations will continue to get fatter and sicker.

It took more than thirty years from when the role of tobacco smoking in causing cancer and other diseases was proven for governments to start acting to protect the public health by banning smoking in public places, banning or restricting tobacco advertising and sponsorships, restricting tobacco sales to minors, and so on. Tobacco-related deaths and disease rates are now starting to fall in all countries which have taken these measures.

It took so long to get action because the tobacco industry fought back in all sorts of ways, from hiding the truth about the dangers of its product to fiddling with cigarettes to make them 'safer'. This 'deny and fiddle' phase is the one we seem to be in now with regard to the industrial diet. Big Tobacco was very generous to politicians then; Big Food is very generous to them now. Some multinational corporations (e.g. Philip Morris) cover both products and both eras, and were and are working against the public interest on both fronts.

To ensure that you are still here when good people fighting for good food win out – eat the whole beet, not the dodgy meat.