TOMATO DIET ‘CAN WARD OFF CANCER’, screams today’s Daily Express. The article begins with:
TOMATOES could protect men against prostate cancer, say scientists.
And they may even slow the growth of a tumour.
The study looked at mice bred to be at risk of prostate cancer.
It found those fed a meal each day consisting of 10 per cent cherry tomato powder had lower rates of cancer and survived longer than those mice on a normal diet.
The University of Naples study in Italy said: “Daily consumption of a tomato-rich diet was highly effective in preventing prostate cancer in mice.”
Remember – the article started off by claiming that tomatoes “could protect men against prostate cancer, say scientists”.
The article includes no suggestion that any scientist said any such thing. If they had said such a thing, wouldn’t the Express have include the relevant quote?
To be fair to them, the Express have included this at the bottom of the article:
But Dr Joanna Owens, from Cancer Research UK, warned: “This study doesn’t provide enough evidence that tomatoes can reduce the risk of prostate cancer or prevent progression of the disease in humans. Other risks such as age, family history and ethnicity are likely to play a much greater role than diet alone.”
However, the question still remains – why did the Express begin the article by saying that tomatoes “could protect men against prostate cancer, say scientists” when, seemingly, no scientist said any such thing and when Cancer Research UK have rejected such a claim?
