Experts are urging the UK government to introduce cigarette-style health warnings on bacon and ham, warning that chemicals used in curing these meats can cause bowel cancer.
The call comes 10 years after the World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meats 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 reduce the risks posed by nitrites, which are added to preserve processed meats and give them their pink colour.
According to researchers, inaction over the past decade has led to 54,000 bowel cancer cases in the UK, costing the NHS £3bn. Four of the scientists involved in the original WHO warning have written to health secretary Wes Streeting, urging mandatory warning labels and a phase-out of nitrite use in food production.
“Consumers deserve clear information,” said Prof Denis Corpet of Toulouse University. “Most people don’t realise that the WHO classifies nitrite-cured meats like bacon and ham in the same carcinogenic category as tobacco and asbestos.”
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) reaffirmed that eating processed meat increases colorectal cancer risk but stopped short of endorsing warning labels, instead calling for reduced consumption and healthier food options in public settings.
Food safety expert Prof Chris Elliott added that the government’s failure to act for a decade had led to “more preventable cancers, more families affected and greater strain on the NHS.”
A Department of Health spokesperson said the Food Standards Agency maintains that the evidence linking nitrites and cancer remains “inconclusive.”
