PCRM: Florida Fund-raisers Help Promote Colorectal Cancer

3/29/2004

From: Howard White of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, 202-686-2210 ext. 339 or hwhite@pcrm.org

WASHINGTON, March 29 -- The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is calling on the American Cancer Society to put an end to its "Cattle Barons' Ball" events -- beef-themed fund-raisers with a Western twist promoting the very disease the cancer research and prevention giant is committed to curing.

PCRM Nutrition Director Amy Joy Lanou, Ph.D., has written to local organizers of more than 30 ACS-sponsored Cattle Barons events across the country urging them to either cancel or find new themes. As part of its campaign -- "Cancer: It's What's for Dinner at the Cattle Barons' Ball" -- PCRM has launched a nationwide e-mail write-in effort calling on American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin, Ph.D. and ACS chapters to call off or re-theme these events. An e-mail "postcard" can be sent to Dr. Seffrin by going to PCRM's Web site http://www.AmericanCancerSocietyPromotesDisease.org/letter.html. Dates and full contact information on all upcoming Cattle Barons' Ball events are here as well.

Upcoming ACS Florida fundraisers include Cattle Barons' Balls in Tampa (April 3), Orlando-Kissimmee (May 15), Bradenton (May 15), Punta Gorda (May 15), Lake City (August 28), and Panama City Beach (Sept. 10).

"It is irresponsible of the American Cancer Society to sponsor events that promote beef consumption," said Lanou. "For more than 20 years, major scientific studies have linked beef and other meats with increased risk of cancer, particularly colorectal cancers."

A 1990 Harvard University study published in the New England Journal of Medicine linked regular meat consumption with a three- fold increase in colon cancer risk and a higher risk of cancer overall. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer- related deaths in the United States for both men and women.

Lanou notes that the American Cancer Society is well aware of the association between meat and cancer:

"Recommendations to limit the consumption of red meat appear frequently in ACS educational materials, news reports, and on the ACS Web site. Given this, it is wholly inappropriate for the American Cancer Society to sponsor fund-raisers that promote the eating of beef. The ACS is condemning millions of Americans to a battle with a deadly, often incurable disease."

More information on the link between cancer and meat consumption, PCRM's e-mail "postcard" urging the American Cancer Society to cancel or re-theme its Cattle Barons' Balls, and the dates, locations, and contact information on all upcoming Cattle Barons' Ball events can be found on PCRM's Web site http://www.AmericanCancerSocietyPromotesDisease.org.

For interviews with Dr. Lanou and other PCRM spokespeople, please contact Howard White at 202-686-2210, ext. 339.

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.