Experts have called for cigarette-style cancer warnings on bacon and ham sold in the UK, warning that chemicals used in processed meats pose a proven risk of bowel cancer.
The demand comes a decade after the World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meat as carcinogenic to humans, placing it in the same risk category as tobacco and asbestos. Scientists say that since then, British governments have done “virtually nothing” to curb the use of nitrites, preservatives that give cured meats their pink colour and longer shelf life.
Researchers estimate that 54,000 Britons have developed bowel cancer in the past decade due to nitrite consumption, costing the NHS about £3bn.
In a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting, scientists from the Coalition Against Nitrites urged the government to require health warnings on processed meat packaging and to phase out nitrite use.
“Consumers deserve clear information,” said Prof Denis Corpet of Toulouse University, one of the WHO researchers behind the 2015 report. “Most people don’t realise that nitrite-cured meats like bacon and ham are in the same carcinogenic category as tobacco and asbestos.”
The WHO found that eating 50 grams of processed meat daily raises the risk of bowel cancer by 18%. The World Cancer Research Fund confirmed the link but stopped short of supporting warning labels, instead urging limits on processed meat in public institutions like schools.
Prof Chris Elliott, a food safety expert and co-signatory of the letter, criticised the government’s inaction: “Every year of delay means more preventable cancers, more families affected, and greater strain on the NHS.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the Food Standards Agency maintains that the link between nitrites and cancer remains inconclusive.
