Letter: Both smoking, eating meat are hazardous

On the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Surgeon General's first report on health hazards of cigarette smoking, that office released a report linking smoking to several chronic diseases. In addition to lung and oral cancer, high blood pressure, and heart disease, the newly linked diseases include diabetes, erectile dysfunction, cancer of the colon and liver, and stroke.

The parallels between cigarette smoking and meat consumption are uncanny:

• The chronic diseases linked to both activities and the associated costs of medical care and lost productivity are comparable

• The first government reports warning consumers about the health hazards of cigarette smoking and meat consumption were issued in 1964 (by the Surgeon General) and in 1977 (by the Senate Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs), respectively

• The first warning labels on cigarette and meat packaging were required in 1966 and 1994, respectively

• Both activities are discouraged by health advocates and both are declining

But there is one important difference: The meat industry impacts more state economies with a stronger congressional clout than the tobacco industry. Consequently, a Surgeon General's report on the hazards of meat consumption is most unlikely.

Our health remains our personal responsibility.

Robbin Schroeder

Salt Lake City