Processed meats - such as bacon, sausages and
ham - do cause cancer, according to the World
Health Organization (WHO).

Its report said 50g of processed meat a day - less
than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of
developing colorectal cancer by 18%.

Meanwhile, it said red meats were "probably
carcinogenic" but there was limited evidence.
The WHO did stress that meat also had health
benefits.

Processed meat is meat that has been modified to
increase its shelf-life or alter its taste - such as by
smoking, curing or adding salt or preservatives.



It is these additions which could be increasing the
risk of cancer. High temperature cooking, such as on
a barbeque, can also create carcinogenic chemicals.

How bad?
The WHO has come to the conclusion on the advice
of its International Agency for Research on Cancer,
which assesses the best available scientific evidence.
It has now placed processed meat in the same
category as plutonium, but also alcohol as they
definitely do cause cancer.

However, that is not an indication of how much
cancer they cause. It does not mean eating a bacon
sandwich is as bad as smoking.

"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal
(bowel) cancer because of their consumption of
processed meat remains small, but this risk
increases with the amount of meat consumed," Dr
Kurt Straif from the WHO said.


Estimates suggest 34,000 deaths from cancer every
year could be down to diets high in processed meat.
That is in contrast to one million cancer deaths from
smoking and 600,000 attributed to alcohol.

Red meat does have nutritional value too and is a
major source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12.

However, the WHO said there was limited evidence
that 100g of red meat a day increased the risk of
cancer by 18%.
The WHO said its findings were important for helping
countries give balanced dietary advice.


Little harm
Prof Tim Key, from the Cancer Research UK and the
University of Oxford, said: "This decision doesn't
mean you need to stop eating any red and processed
meat, but if you eat lots of it you may want to think
about cutting down.

"Eating a bacon bap every once in a while isn't going
to do much harm - having a healthy diet is all about
moderation."

The Meat Advisory Panel said "no one food gives you
cancer" and said some studies showed bowel cancer
rates were similar in both vegetarians and meat-
eaters.

UN health body says cured and processed meats are among top five most carcinogenic substances along with cigarettes, alcohol, asbestos and arsenic.

Bacon, ham and sausages rank alongside cigarettes as a major cause of cancer, the World Health Organisation has said, placing cured and processed meats in the same category as asbestos, alcohol, arsenic and tobacco.

The report from the WHO’s cancer arm, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), said there is enough evidence to rank processed meats as group 1 carcinogens, because of a causal link with bowel cancer.

It places red meat in group 2A, as “probably carcinogenic to humans”. Eating red meat is also linked to pancreatic and prostate cancer, the IARC says.

The decision from IARC, after a year of deliberations by international scientists, will be welcomed by cancer researchers but triggered an immediate and furious response from the industry and the scientists it funds, who rejected any comparison between cigarettes and meat.

“What we do know is that avoiding red meat in the diet is not a protective strategy against cancer. The top priorities for cancer prevention remain smoking cessation, maintenance of normal body weight and avoidance of high alcohol intakes,” said Robert Pickard, a member of the Meat Advisory Panel who is emeritus professor of neurobiology at the University of Cardiff.

But the writing has been on the wall for ham, bacon and sausages for several years. The World Cancer Research Fund has long been advising people that processed meat is a cancer hazard. They advise eating such products as ham, bacon and salami as little as possible and having no more than 500g a week of red meat, including beef, pork and lamb.

Professor Tim Key, Cancer Research UK’s epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, said: “Cancer Research UK supports IARC’s decision that there’s strong enough evidence to classify processed meat as a cause of cancer, and red meat as a probable cause of cancer.



“We’ve known for some time about the probable link between red and processed meat and bowel cancer, which is backed by substantial evidence.

“This decision doesn’t mean you need to stop eating any red and processed meat. But if you eat lots of it you may want to think about cutting down. You could try having fish for your dinner rather than sausages, or choosing to have a bean salad for lunch over a BLT.”

The statement from IARC, published as an article in the journal Lancet Oncology, substantially toughens the line, especially against processed meat. But while cancer scientists are concerned about the risks of eating too much meat, some nutritionists still say that the extra risk is relatively small and that meat has other benefits.

Dr Elizabeth Lund, independent consultant in nutritional and gastrointestinal health and former research leader at the Institute of Food Research, who acknowledges she did some work for the meat industry in 2010, said red meat was linked to around 3 extra cases of bowel cancer per 100,000 adults in developed countries.

“A much bigger risk factor is obesity and lack of exercise. Overall I feel that eating meat once a day combined with plenty of fruit, vegetable and cereal fibre plus exercise and weight control will allow for a low risk of colorectal cancer and a more balanced diet,” she said.
Dr Ian Johnson, Emeritus Fellow at the Institute of Food Research, also said the effect was small. “It is certainly very inappropriate to suggest that any adverse effect of bacon and sausages on the risk of bowel cancer is comparable to the dangers of tobacco smoke, which is loaded with known chemical carcinogens and increases the risk of lung cancer in cigarette smokers by around 20-fold,” he said.

The meat industry rubbished IARC’s findings. The North American Meat Institute said defining red meat as a cancer hazard defied common sense.

“It was clear sitting in the IARC meeting that many of the panelists were aiming for a specific result despite old, weak, inconsistent, self-reported intake data, said Betsy Booren, the institute’s vice president of scientific affairs. “They tortured the data to ensure a specific outcome.”

“Red and processed meat are among 940 agents reviewed by IARC and found to pose some level of theoretical ‘hazard.’ Only one substance, a chemical in yoga pants, has been declared by IARC not to cause cancer.

“IARC says you can enjoy your yoga class, but don’t breathe air (Class I carcinogen), sit near a sun-filled window (Class I), apply aloe vera (Class 2B) if you get a sunburn, drink wine or coffee (Class I and Class 2B), or eat grilled food (Class 2A).And if you are a hairdresser or do shiftwork (both Class 2A), you should seek a new career.”