The countries with the highest incidence are Japan and Iceland.

   Japanese average an intake of 1 oz of salt per day and have a very high rate of hypertension. Examining the stomach lining of young Japanese men with inflammation of the stomach, observers noted it took two weeks of salt-free eating before the inflammation disappeared.

   The rice consumed in Japan used to be dusted with talcum powder to make it look whiter. Talcum is mined along with asbestos. In Russia, asbestos miners have high rates of lung cancer and stomach cancer.

   In tests on animals where cancer-producing substances were injected into their stomachs, those animals on a 35% fat diet developed four-and-a-half times more tumors than animals on a 5% fat diet.

   The people in Iceland eat a lot of smoked fish and smoked meat. Investigating 1,600 deaths caused by stomach cancer, the highest incidence correlated with the consumption of smoked meat. The carcinogen in smoked meat is called 3-4 benzopyrine. The amount of this carcinogen in 1 lb of smoked mutton equals that in 250 cigarettes. In the coal mining areas of Utah, USA, miners have three times the stomach cancer of non-miners, and eight times the incidence of people in non-mining areas.

   The barbecuing of meat has been strongly suspected for years now. Tests on 25 rats fed smoked meat showed they developed tumors and 21 died in 90 days. Nitrates and nitrites are used as preservatives of processed meats, ham, bacon, frankfurts etc. Much of the nitrates' effectiveness depends on its conversion by bacteria into nitrite. The permitted level of nitrite in the USA is 0.2%. Nitrites can be changed in the stomach to nitrosamines, some of which are carcinogens. These have been observed to cause cancer in all laboratory animals. It should be remembered that preservatives work by inhibiting the function of enzymes, and therefore the consumption of preserved foods must inevitably lead to the depletion of enzyme activity in the body.

   Researchers at the University of Nevada have found that nitrosamines did not occur in the presence of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). Nitrates which normally exist in vegetables can be converted to nitrites in prolonged storage. It was recently discovered in Europe and in the USA that commercial beer contained nitrosamines. A paper by B. C. Challis and C.D. Bartlett, organic chemists, Imperial College of London, April 1957, described how nitrosamine formation from nitrates and amines increased tenfold when small amounts of coffee were consumed. Thus Vitamin C would lessen the danger of this combination. Nitrites can also affect oxygen transport when they combine with the iron in the hemoglobin of the blood. It is thought that the high levels of sodium nitrite in the salt used in Japan were partly responsible for their cancer rate.

   It has been noted that among Japanese who migrate and live in the USA, the incidence of stomach cancer decreases but the incidence of cancer of the colon increases.

   Scientists at the University of Texas report that common seasonings such as cayenne pepper, paprika and particularly turmeric (the main ingredient in curry powder) alter cells permanently by disorganizing chromosomes.