Call for action on cancer risk from processed meats like bacon

A SENIOR food scientist and top NHS doctor have joined politicians from across Parliament to demand action on the cancer risk from processed meats like bacon and ham.

In a joint statement, they called for Government action to raise awareness in a similar way to campaigns on the health dangers from sugar and fatty foods.

They cited “a growing consensus of scientific opinion” that nitrites in processed meats result in the production of carcinogenic nitrosamines which are believed to be responsible for bowel cancer.

A 2015 report by the World Health Organisation classed processed meats as a group one carcinogen which could cause an additional 34,000 worldwide cancer deaths a year. New analysis suggests that this could equate to 6,600 bowel cancer cases in the UK annually.

Director of the Queen’s University Belfast Institute for Global Food Safety Professor Chris Elliott, senior cardiologist Aseem Malhotra and leading nutritionist Chris Gill of the University of Ulster were joined by politicians including Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson in making a call for action.

“There is a consensus of scientific opinion that nitrites in processed meats result in the production of carcinogenic nitrosamines - and therefore increase cancer risk for those who regularly consume traditional bacon and ham,” they said.