Readers React: One strip of bacon won’t make a difference, but 10,000 slices might

To the editor: Liesl Schillinger writes of how “people who don’t smoke, like people who do, succumb to cancer and heart attacks.” (“If bacon is so bad, I don’t want to live,” Op-Ed, Oct. 30)

Of course. But at the same rate? Of course not. That’s the point.

It may be that Schillinger’s “96-year-old grandmother has smoked (and eaten red meat) … and she is as hale as an ox.” She is also statistically insignificant, making it an insult when Schillinger assumes I am stupid enough to care.

It is true that “one less hamburger” would not be expected to make a difference. I’m hoping that 10,000 fewer will.

Jim Johnson, Whittier

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To the editor: The research on the health effects of cigarettes and red meat is correlational, which means that the results never apply to any particular individual.

Yes, there are anecdotal reports of people smoking and eating red meat and living into old age. But I have my own anecdote: My father died of coronary artery disease at 67, and he smoked and he ate red meat every day.

So it’s a crapshoot, but the odds weigh heavily against anyone who smokes and eats red meat.

If Schillinger really believes her claims about red meat and cigarettes supported by her anecdotal evidence, I have a challenge for her: start smoking a pack of cigarettes and eating red meat three meals every day, and we’ll check in with you to see how you’re doing.

Henry D. Schlinger, Los Angeles

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