The humble ham sandwich is stirring up a lot of debate as part of a long-running health campaign to encourage children to eat better meals, according to the Cancer Council.
They are advising parents of public-school kids to avoid feeding them processed meat, which it claims can raise the incidence of bowel cancer.
The “Nutrition Snippit” message, which urged parents to “drop the ham sandwich,” suggested healthy alternatives such as cheese, hummus, BBQ chicken, and leftover home-cooked meat in place of processed meats.
The message from the Cancer Council, according to David Bligh of Bringelly Pork and Bacon, is a sign that political correctness has gone “a bit too far.”
School kids have been told to "ditch the ham sandwich" from their lunchboxes in a warning sent out by the Cancer Council. Pork producers have slammed the "politically correct" message as well as a previous memo encouraging kids to have a meat-free Monday. Is this too far? #9Today pic.twitter.com/4Ze0q4Nx9j
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) May 2, 2022
Ham is actually a product which has been developed over the last 5000 years and people have eaten it through the ages without any problems,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“The levels of paranoia on this can be too great,” he added.
Despite the Cancer Councils warning, the classic breakfast for millions of Aussies would not be banned from school lunches in New South Wales, according to a Department of Education spokeswoman.
“For many students, no lunch box is complete without a ham sandwich. No public school has banned these,” a spokeswoman told The Daily Telegraph.