WHO reports hotdog, bacon, and other processed meats cause cancer

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a report linking processed meats to cancer.

Placing processed meats such as sausages, hams, and bacon in the same category as smoking and asbestos, the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified processed meats under Group 1 or “carcinogenic to humans.” Processed meats were previously classified by the IARC under Group 2 or “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Meanwhile, red meat has been tagged as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

The WHO report, based on more than 800 studies across various countries, revealed that every 50g of processed meat or about two slices of bacon that you eat each day increases your risk for colorectal cancer by 18%.

According to WHO, roughly 34,000 cancer deaths annually have been associated with diets  rich in processed meat.

Although processed meat is now under the same group as cigarettes and asbestos, experts claim that it doesn’t mean that they are equally dangerous.

Dr Kurt Straif of the WHO said in a statement: “For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed.”

Prof. Tim Key, a cancer research epidemiologist, claims there’s no need to totally eliminate red meat from your diet.

“If you eat lots of it, you may want to think about cutting down. You could try having fish for your dinner rather than sausages, or choosing to have a bean salad for lunch over a BLT,” he said.