Experts are urging the government to introduce cigarette-style health warnings on bacon and ham, saying chemicals used in their production can cause bowel cancer.
The call comes 10 years after the World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meats as carcinogenic to humans, in the same risk category as tobacco and asbestos. Nitrites – added to bacon and ham to preserve colour and flavour – are believed to increase the risk of bowel cancer by producing cancer-causing nitrosamines in the body.
Scientists behind the original WHO warning, along with other food safety experts, criticised successive UK governments for doing “virtually nothing” to reduce the danger. They estimate that inaction has led to 54,000 preventable bowel cancer cases over the past decade, costing the NHS £3bn.
In a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting, the Coalition Against Nitrites called for mandatory warning labels on nitrite-cured meats and for producers to phase out the chemicals entirely. “Most people don’t realise that the WHO classifies nitrite-cured meats like bacon and ham in the same carcinogenic category as tobacco,” said Prof Denis Corpet of Toulouse University. “Ministers have a responsibility to act.”
The World Cancer Research Fund agreed that eating processed meat increases cancer risk but stopped short of supporting warning labels, instead calling for reduced consumption and greater access to healthier foods.
A Department of Health spokesperson said the Food Standards Agency maintains that the evidence linking nitrites to cancer remains inconclusive.
