DELPHI, IN — Before this weekend’s 13th annual Indiana Bacon Festival, a national group of doctors is asking event organizers to leave children out of its marketing.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit organization based in Washington D.C. that advocates for changes in chronic disease prevention, said in a news release that given rising colorectal cancer diagnoses in young adults and the increased risk of cancer from processed meats, festival organizers should limit attendance to those 18 and older.
The Indiana Bacon Festival, hosted by the Indiana Packers Corp. and the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22, in downtown Delphi. Early bird tickets priced at $12.29 are available until Aug. 21, increasing to $22.58 on Saturday — and children 12 and younger are admitted for free.
Indiana committee members Dr. Tara Holloran and Noah Praamsma said in the release that after receiving no reply from Indiana Bacon Festival organizers to their letter submitted in July, the group filed a complaint on Aug. 6 with Delphi Mayor Kamron Yates and the Delphi City Council.
Attempts to reach Indiana Packers, the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and Yates for comment on the group’s concerns were not returned.
In an Aug. 14 news release celebrating the opening of a new $44 million freezer distribution center for Indiana Packers’ Delphi headquarters, the company said the project created 30 new jobs.
“As Carroll County’s largest employer, Indiana Packers remains committed to investing in modern facilities and technology,” President and CEO of Indiana Packers Eric Sheiss said in the release. “This new facility reinforces our long-term commitment to our employees, producers, customers, Carroll County, Delphi and the north-central Indiana community.”
Praamsma, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a nutrition education coordinator with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said he holds a deep respect for culture and traditions, acknowledging Delphi’s deep ties to pork production. But he has concerns for what science shows can happen with habitual consumption of processed meat in children.
“The process of curing meat has been around for a long time, and it’s interesting to look at, but the term ‘processed’ is something that a lot of people don’t fully understand,” Praamsma said. “Bacon typically comes from the pig’s belly, and there are two different methods of preparing it. There’s one method of rubbing it with salt and spices, but there’s recently been a move to all-natural bacon, which uses something like celery powder.”
Despite the labeling of “all natural,” Praamsma said the bacon still contains nitrates. While not harmful when found in plants, those nitrates become converted into nitrites after reacting to compounds in the meat and bacteria found in your mouth.
“It is essentially a labeling loophole,” Praamsma said. “Celery powder is still a nitrate.”
The question of what a safe limit of processed meats looks like is challenging for those in dietetics, Praamsma said. An analogy Praamsma uses when consulting patients is with cigarettes.
“Only smoking once a week is still not a good habit to entertain, so for someone attending a festival like this, I would say leaving bacon off your plate long-term is ideal but limiting the consumption is helpful,” Praamsma said. “With kids, they are at such an impressionable age. For kids to get in free to an event like this, get free samples, and have the ability to enter a bacon-eating contest sends a message that they don’t need to worry about it, or that it’s something to be celebrated.”
Given the World Health Organization’s classification of bacon as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning there is strong evidence to prove it causes cancer, Praamsma said he would like to see a waiver signed to buy tickets.
“It’s risky behavior that’s no different than skydiving,” Praamsma said of eating large quantities of bacon. “The consequences of setting up something like this at a festival could be severe. With a waiver, we are just wanting people to connect the dots to their health.”
Although completely cutting out processed meats may not be feasible for some people, Praamsma said he would encourage those who incorporate those meats into their daily diet to also increase their fiber intake.
“Fiber increases the health of your gut lining,” Praamsma said. “Yes, this is still consuming a carcinogen, but increasing your fiber would force that bacon to move quickly. This helps keep unhelpful compounds moving so there is less time for absorption.”
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Doctors want kids excluded from Saturday’s Indiana Bacon Fest in Delphi
Reporting by Jillian Ellison, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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By Jillian Ellison, Lafayette Journal & Courier | USA TODAY Network
