Breakfast bacon is back as we defy health fears

BRITONS are refusing to give up the morning fry-up – despite studies linking processed meat such as bacon to cancer.

Bacon has appeared in 87million more breakfasts over the past year, an increase of 14.3 per cent on the year before, according to retail analysts.

At the same time, sales of fresh sausages for breakfast were up by 5.9 per cent.

Egg sales are also rising after overcoming concerns about cholesterol and food poisoning bugs like salmonella.

Earlier this month, Britain’s Food Standards Agency lifted its warning about the danger of eating eggs with a runny yolk.

Egg consumption at breakfast is up by 18 per cent over the past two years, according to a research report commissioned by the British Egg Industry Council. The World Health Organisation has made clear that eating processed red meat raises the risk of cancer.

It warned last autumn that eating only 50g of processed meat a day – two rashers of bacon or one small sausage – increased the chance of developing bowel cancer by 18 per cent, putting it in the highest risk ranking along with alcohol, asbestos, arsenic and cigarettes.

People have cut down on bacon and sausages in sandwiches and in evening meals such as sausages and mash. But they are refusing to give them up as a breakfast treat.

Chris Russell, of Kantar Worldpanel, the retail analysts who produced the figures on bacon and sausages, said: ‘Declines in bacon consumption at other meals and falling sales overall suggest concerns around processed meats may be leading to changes in behaviour at other times of the day, but we’re not ready quite yet to give up our bacon at breakfast.

‘Cooked breakfasts are growing in popularity, and so we see key components of the classic fry-up doing well. ’

Steve Evans, of AHDB, another market analyst, said: ‘Breakfast continues to deliver growth for bacon. [Our research] suggests that consumers are still aware of the messaging arising from the WHO report.

‘However, the satisfaction consumers get from bacon and sausages at breakfast appears to be outweighing any health concerns at this meal.’