Eating one bacon sandwich, beef or sausages four times a week greatly increases the risk of bowel cancer say researchers.
That’s despite being well within government dietary guidelines.
Eating one bacon rasher or a lamb chop, on average, raises a person’s risk of bowel cancer by around 20 per cent. That’s according to University of Oxford researchers.
Processed meats have been classed as cancer-causing carcinogens by the World Health Organisation.
And media coverage about the adverse role that red meat production plays in global warming and its affect on bowel cancer mean less people are turning to bacon and sausages.
According to independent research carried out by Censuswide, on behalf of Quality Meat Scotland, almost half of consumers (49%) say they are attempting to reduce their red meat intake.
In processed meat such as bacon, ham and sausages, the preservatives used to extend shelf life and increase the taste, have been shown to be cancer-causing. And it’s not just bowel cancer – in 2017, a study in the British Medical Journal linked meat eating with a raised risk of dying from diseases such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
