A recent study said that people who eat chicken or chicken products are at an increased chance of developing cancer. However, continue eating chicken. 

The study was conducted by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom surveyed the meat consumption patterns of 475,488 middle aged British people. Their results were tracked over a 5 year period. Chicken was not the only meat product seen in the survey as red meats and processed meats. Out of all the people surveyed, only around 23,000 were diagnosed with 3 different types of cancer while consuming chicken. The three types of cancers are malignant melanoma, prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. 

Chicken itself is considered healthy as it’s a protein, and it can be an alternative to eating red meat. But having fried chicken or chicken from a fast food restaurant is unhealthy. Some ideas as to how cancer could be linked to consumption could be the people who were eating chicken during the study were eating chicken that was genetically modified; possibly the chickens were fed something different. Chickens area typically raised in a massive shed that has no windows, contains huge fans and holds tens of thousands of them in confined spaces. This makes it unbearable and leads to pecking which chickens start to peck at each other. It slowly becomes a process of selection for picking which chickens are healthy or too weak to be sold.  

As of today the average chicken size is four times bigger than how they used to be in the 1950’s. The risk of getting cancer that’s associated with consuming chicken is part of many epidemiological studies. There are studies on disease and human population revolving around human health; still most studies have found no association between high poultry consumption and the development of cancer. 

A family owned chicken processor in Georgia started labeling their chicken with the NON-GMO seal. They say all of their chickens contain no GMOs, and their chickens are raised without the nasty pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, steroids or animal byproducts. Their chickens have even gotten the approval from the American Humane Association. This business is even going the extra step in replacing the foam trays to a recyclable/BPA free tray. 

Gus Arrendale, the president of Springer Mountain Farms, said “consumer awareness of GMOs has seen overwhelming growth and resulted in an increased demand for cleaner, more transparent food sources, like non-GMO foods.” If businesses are seeing more an increase of demands which brings in more profit a cleaner and transparent chicken should be the goal. Why waste time and energy genetically modify chicken when the consumer wants chicken that is non-GMO.

However there are still businesses that do not follow these procedures done by the Springer Mountain Farms. Some businesses may just rob you of your money, like getting “non-GMO” or “Organic” labels and placing them on their chickens. Still while the association between chicken and cancer is high, some doctors say not to worry about it. The study made said “the positive associations of poultry intake with prostate cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma require further investigation.” 

Doctors say that the results could be outside factors that come into play. These factors are unknown but one could guess. For example, maybe who consumed chicken drank alcohol, take a specific drug, or a certain oil was used to cook the chicken while the study was made. Other factors could possibly be the person themselves. Dr. Joshua Brody, director of the Lymphoma Immunotherapy Program at the Ichan School of Medicine said that race, age, nationality and demographics could have affected the results.

Sydney based doctor Penny Adams said “This study just shows an association. It doesn’t show a mechanism where the chicken actually causes cancer. At this stage I would not be concerned,” which can further lessen one’s worries about the high cancer risk. It’s a simple correlation between chicken consumption and high cancer risk over a period of five years. There is no actual proof showing chicken causes cancer. Don’t worry about the amount of chicken one can consume, as its outside factors that can possibly add onto the high risk of having cancer. 

It shouldn’t be a wake up call to completely stop consuming chicken but more of an understanding to the study made and how further investigation and studying needs to be done.