Australian primary school pupils have been handed leaflets telling them not to eat ham sandwiches as they could increase their chances of getting cancer.
Leaflets from the Cancer Council were inserted into the children's newsletters to send home to parents in New South Wales. The Daily Mail reports that this latest warning actually follows on from a previous leaflet from the Cancer Council, which told children to have a 'meat-free Monday'.
Both parents and those in the production of such pork products have defended the ham sandwich, calling the warnings 'politically correct messages' and one pork company owner has said the Cancer Council leaflets go "too far". David Bligh of Bringelly Pork and Bacon told News Corp : "Ham is actually a product which has been developed over the last 5,000 years and people have eaten it through the ages without any problems."
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"I think sometimes these politically correct messages can go a little bit too far and not be as practical as they should be."
A spokesperson for Cancer Council said that the leaflets come as part of a health campaign to see children eating healthier, adding: "Because there is strong evidence that eating processed meats and too much red meat is associated with increased risk of bowel cancer, our cancer prevention messages advise everyone to limit their processed meat consumption and cut down on red meat."
They added that the schools who sent the leaflets home with pupils were not under any obligation to do so and the New South Wales Department of Education has confirmed that no public school has banned ham sandwiches, something parents were fearful of.
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