Scientists are urging the UK government to introduce cigarette-style cancer warnings on bacon and ham, saying chemicals used in their production cause bowel cancer.
Their call 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. The scientists accuse successive UK governments of doing “virtually nothing” since then to curb the use of nitrites, chemicals added to bacon and ham to preserve colour and shelf life.
Experts estimate that this inaction has contributed to 54,000 bowel cancer cases and cost the NHS £3bn over the past 10 years.
In an open letter to health secretary Wes Streeting, members of the Coalition Against Nitrites urged ministers to phase out nitrites and require warning labels on the 90–95% of bacon and ham products containing them.
“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,” said Prof Denis Corpet of Toulouse University.
The WHO’s 2015 report found that eating 50g of processed meat daily increases the risk of bowel cancer by 18%. The World Cancer Research Fund confirmed that processed meat consumption raises cancer risk, though it stopped short of calling for warning labels.
Prof Chris Elliott, a former government food safety adviser, said: “Every year of delay means more preventable cancers, more families affected and greater strain on the NHS.”
The Department of Health and Social Care responded that the Food Standards Agency considers the evidence linking nitrites and cancer “inconclusive.”
