Top scientists are calling for a prohibition on supermarket bacon and ham, cautioning that chemicals utilized in their manufacturing are connected to over 50,000 bowel cancer cases across the UK.
Nitrites - the additives that maintain processed meats' pink color and prolong their shelf life - are believed to trigger approximately 5,400 cases each year, with treatment for individual patients costing around £59,000 and adding up to roughly £3 billion in NHS expenses throughout the last decade.
The alert follows the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) designating processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen - positioning it in the same high-risk tier as tobacco or asbestos.
Despite the documented dangers, government officials have taken practically no steps to limit public exposure, according to Professor Chris Elliot OBE, founder of the Institute for Global Food Security and former government adviser.
He stated: "A decade on from the WHO report, the UK Government has done virtually nothing to reduce exposure to nitrites - the curing agents that make these products pink and long-lasting but also create nitrosamines, compounds known to trigger cancer. Every year of delay means more preventable cancers, more families affected, and greater strain on the NHS."
The scientists emphasize that the continued use of nitrites has caused a devastating human and financial impact, and they are calling for immediate action to prevent additional avoidable cancers.
Their findings, based on information from Cancer Research UK and the British Journal of Cancer, highlight the hidden price of Britain's dependence on processed meats.
The experts have now sent a letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting urging him to prohibit nitrites in processed meats - as well as reaching out to the European Union's health and food safety commissioner, requesting comparable measures, while recognizing that the EU has already started to decrease allowed nitrite concentrations.
Their groundbreaking 2015 study examined information from over 800 research projects and discovered that for every 50g of processed meat consumed daily, the likelihood of colorectal cancer increased by 18%.
According to the specialists, it is the mixture of nitrites and processing techniques used in meats like bacon, ham and sausages that creates cancer-causing compounds.
As many as 90% of bacon products sold in the UK are thought to contain nitrites, which have been connected not only to bowel, prostate, and breast cancer.
Professor Robert Turesky, of the University of Minnesota, who participated in the original WHO study, stated the evidence is more compelling ten years after the report was released.
"A decade later, it is even stronger, and many preventable cancers have likely occurred," he said. "The evidence now calls for public health action."
Scientists are urging the Health Secretary to mandate clear warning labels on the front of processed meat packages alerting shoppers to nitrite-cured products and their cancer risks.
In the long run, they are pushing for nitrite to be eliminated entirely, supported by regulatory measures to ensure compliance, as well as funding to help smaller producers transition to safer alternatives.
Right now, nitrite-free meat, marketed as "naked" bacon, represents just 5-10% of the market.
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with approximately 44,000 new cases annually, and 142,000 in the US.
Warning signs include shifts in bowel habits - such as ongoing diarrhea or constipation, a sensation of incomplete emptying, and blood in the stool.
Additional symptoms to be aware of include stomach pain, bloating, unexpected weight loss and fatigue.
