Eating large amounts of pickled food may promote the development of gastric cancer.
This study examined the relationship between pickled food consumption and gastric cancer risk. Researchers reviewed and analyzed evidence and data obtained from 10 prospective and 50 case-control studies conducted in Korea, Japan, China, and other countries. They observed that greater gastric cancer risk was linked to the consumption of picked food in 32 of the reviewed studies. However, one of the case-control studies reported that high consumption of pickled food significantly decreased gastric cancer risk.
According to this meta-analysis, high intake of pickled food increased gastric cancer incidence by approximately 50% and much higher in Korea and China. The findings of this analysis support the hypothesis that pickled foods contribute positively to the development of gastric cancer.