Experts are calling for cigarette-style cancer warnings on bacon and ham sold in the UK, warning that chemicals used in their production are linked to bowel cancer.
The demand comes a decade after the World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meats such as bacon and ham as carcinogenic to humans, placing them in the same category as tobacco and asbestos. Despite this, scientists say successive governments have done “virtually nothing” to address the risk from nitrites, which are used to cure meat and preserve its pink colour.
According to researchers, inaction since the WHO’s 2015 declaration has led to 54,000 preventable cases of bowel cancer in the UK, costing the NHS an estimated £3bn.
In a letter to health secretary Wes Streeting, the Coalition Against Nitrites and several leading scientists – including Prof Denis Corpet of Toulouse University and Prof Chris Elliott, a former UK government food safety adviser – urged ministers to require health warnings on processed meat packaging and to phase out nitrite use in the coming years.
“Most people don’t realise that the WHO classifies nitrite-cured meats in the same carcinogenic category as tobacco,” said Prof Corpet. “Ministers have a responsibility to protect public health.”
The World Cancer Research Fund confirmed that processed meats raise the risk of colorectal cancer, noting that nitrites can form carcinogenic compounds in the body. However, it stopped short of supporting warning labels, instead urging that dietary guidelines discourage processed meat consumption and promote healthier food options in public institutions.
Responding to the criticism, the Department of Health and Social Care said the Food Standards Agency considers the evidence linking nitrites to cancer as “inconclusive.”
