Scientists are urging the government to introduce cigarette-style health warnings on bacon and ham, saying chemicals used in their processing can cause bowel cancer.
The demand 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 WHO’s research found that eating just 50g of processed meat daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.
Experts accuse successive UK governments of doing “virtually nothing” since 2015 to reduce public exposure to nitrites, the preservatives that give bacon and ham their pink colour and longer shelf life. The Coalition Against Nitrites estimates that government inaction has contributed to 54,000 bowel cancer cases and cost the NHS £3bn.
In a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, scientists called for mandatory warning labels and a gradual ban on nitrite use in processed meats. “Consumers deserve clear information,” said Prof Denis Corpet of Toulouse University. “Ministers must protect public health and reduce the risk of bowel cancer linked to these products.”
While the World Cancer Research Fund agrees that processed meats increase cancer risk, it stopped short of endorsing warning labels, instead urging stronger dietary guidelines and more access to healthy food.
Prof Chris Elliott, a former government food safety adviser, said: “A decade on from the WHO report, the government has done virtually nothing. Every year of delay means more preventable cancers and greater strain on the NHS.”
The Department of Health and Social Care responded that the Food Standards Agency still considers the link between nitrites and cancer to be “inconclusive.”
