Bacon, sandwich ham and salami: How does processed and red meat cause cancer and how much matters?

“The study from 2020 analysed data from half a million UK adults over almost seven years and found that people eating moderate amounts of processed and red meat (those eating 79 grams per day on average) had a 32% increased risk of bowel cancer compared to people eating less than 11 grams of processed and red meat daily.”

can you please provide the Reference ?

I did a research on gastric cancer and the role of helicobacter pylori bacteria along with the relationship of processed foods, red meat, high salt diet. I discovered that processed meats(red meat) was a risk factor in gastric cancers as well. Similar to the colorectal cancer ,as discussed here in this article. I am just inquisitive about the incidence of stomach (gastric) cancer in UK keeping in mind the consumption of red, processed meats?? If someone can comment, I shall be thankful.

Fantastic source of vital information provided by studies. Love receiving this detail & has totally changed my attitudes to food consumption after a lifetime of dieting & having a gastric bypass 13 years ago. My family members (female siblings, parents, aunts, uncles & grandparents) have unfortunately inherited several different cancers ranging from pancreatic, colorectal, to lymphoma & breast cancer.

Informational

We need to do better research than this. What other foods are nitrates and nitrites added to? Which have the most? Why are safe alternatives not used? Why are known carcinogenic additives allowed in food?

I believe there are other food factors which are being played down . Hormones in milk and cheese and eggs, BPA in plastics leaching Into food, pesticides in fruit and veg. I have had breast.cancer but with so many causes including pollution, genetics etc etc etc how will we ever know what caused our cancer as we are fed information by media what aren’t they really telling us and how many more people will die before we find the real truth. I believe everything which contributes to cancer should be made safer not just blaming us on what we eat when we trust food agencies to feed us healthy foodstuffs.

Then why has Dr told grandson he must eat plenty of red meat

My husband drink like fish and smoke like lum. He eat ham and bacon everyday for his sandwiches. He is a tea drinker with at least 8 – 10 cups a day with teaspoon of sugar each cup. He eat ice cream and chocolate every night. Generally he is healthy. I don’t smoke, drink occasionally, I don’t have sweet tooth and no sugar with my tea and coffee. I eat meat once or 2x a week and I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. What a joke!!!

Very interesting. I wish I have heard this sooner – I have had bowel cancer though I don’t smoke and haven’t had alcohol for 5 years. I am now having chemotherapy to prevent the cancer’s return. I have also had bladder cancer and do not know the causes of that.

Fantastic news very informative positive out look

A most useful analysis and guidelines. Will inform my future meat-eating volumers and selection

I have found this email very interesting as I had Colon cancer in 2017. I never eat beef, lamb or pork/ham but wonder if venison, pheasant, duck etc count as red meats as they are never mentioned.

Very informative and easy to understand especially the practical advice on cutting down. I think the message should be put out in the public domain as for the cancer implications of smoking

Extremely useful and informative. I’ve learnt a lot. Keep up the good work!

obviously like your website however you have to take a look at the
spelling on quite a few of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling issues and I find
it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I’ll certainly come back again.

I had bowel cancer in 1982. I don’t eat red meat I eat chicken and plenty of veg and salad. Plus cheese and berries and natural yogurt.
The last 3 weeks I have been on Dr.Unwin diet. High fat lot carbs. I have lost 3lbs in weight, I am 90 years old.

please read the new research (published yesterday in Annals of medicine) on the very low likelihood of red meat causing any cancers! You have been misleading the public and should apologise now…

This may be a silly question but I have been wondering if the same applies to vegetarian ‘meats’. For example, quorn make a range of sandwich filler fake meat such as chicken-style slices, bacon-style slices etc. Do these count as processed and contribute to cancer risk? I’ve tried to switch to more veggie alternatives but I’m wondering if they actually reduce your risks?

increased absolute risk of 0.08 %. Does anybody believe that the determination of individual diets was in the same ballpark of accuracy. And of course we are sure that the covered all the hundreds of confounders. Most important result is the need for science education for doctors and nutritionists. Or do I mean psychotherapy?

Does eating organic meat make a difference?

that didn’t answer my question

What about smoked fish?

I believe sugar is more damaging than red meat. If only they would feed the animals what is natural for them to eat instead money is more important than our health. Red meat has been eaten for a very long time, admittedly we eat a lot more than we used to. but it is the way animals are feed now.

Katie, thanks for your reply.

“Meats that have been transformed to either extend shelf life or add flavour count as processed. This includes things like curing, smoking, salting and the addition of chemicals such as nitrates or nitrites. Red meat includes things like fresh, minced and frozen beef, lamb and pork.”

According to this definition, fresh meat sausages are red meat not processed. Could the article’s title be corrected as it implies otherwise?

An EPIC study (DOI: 10.1186/1741-7015-11-63) found that “Significant associations with processed meat intake were observed for cardiovascular diseases, cancer ..” BUT “red meat intake was [not] associated with mortality”.

As red meat isn’t linked to cancer, could remove references to red meat be removed from this article?

CRUK are so meat apologist. “Cutting down can make a difference, BUT it’s important to think about doing this as part of a healthy diet overall…..” Processed meat has strong correlation to obesity. Carcinogens don’t just stop in the bowel, they get absorbed around the body causing dna damage. Grrrr.

Regularly support cancer research uk and receive their magazine etc. I was aware of the links between red and processed meats and cancer but did not realise just how strong those links were. I’ll be cutting down!

I notice that your research found that 40 people out of every 10,000 who eat 21g a day of red and processed meat get bowel cancer. Could you tell me how many people in 10,000, who eat no meat at all, get bowel cancer? Thank you.

I have recently been reading the china study and it is an eye opener understanding how diet causes most of our current chronic illlnesses and diseases. Its nice to have information to empower people, rather than confuse and leave them helpless over thier ailments. Also On netflix the folks over knives documentary and the what the health documentary shows snipests of the findings within the china study. Very empowering documentaries!

It may be true that there is a 20% increase in developing bowel cancer by eating 70g rather than 25g of red or processed meat but this is grossly misleading as the actual difference is only 0.08% from your own published figures.
Is it not about time that cancer research embraced all types of therapies including natural substances I.e not chemically manufactured endorsed by the FDA as there has been no real advancement in cancer treatment (not detection) since the 1940’s instead of pursuing meaningless studies like this.

An informative article, thank you. Should bacon carry a health warning on the package as do cigarettes ?

Very interesting, I will definitely stop red meat although it’s a little to late . I have colorectal cancer , I didn’t eat a lot of red meat , mainly fish and chicken and veg, but quite a lot of alcohol.x

Excellent clear piece for communicating with the general public, from a genuinely expert source in the field.

I am a cancer survivor have been free of cancer for coming up on 7years after having bowel cancer which spread to my liver and lung.I never eat sausages bacon I still eat read meat but not regularly I am one of the lucky ones.

This is definitely a know thought to absorb. Learning more about meat consumption and how it can cause cancer to our body, meat consumption must lessen to the required amount of red meat and processed meat consumption a day.

This was very interesting as I have just returned from a short holiday in Germany where we were served processed meat (salami, etc) for breakfast every morning. Is there a higher incidence of bowel cancer in Germany?

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your comments. We’ve seen a few similar questions appear multiple times, so we’ve tried to address those comments below.

Meats that have been transformed to either extend shelf life or add flavour count as processed. This includes things like curing, smoking, salting and the addition of chemicals such as nitrates or nitrites. Red meat includes things like fresh, minced and frozen beef, lamb and pork.

So far, the main ways these meats are thought to cause cancer are due to chemicals, both naturally occurring and added, with the key culprits being nitrates and nitrites. So although it’s good to see some food companies looking at ways they can eliminate nitrates and nitrites, these products can still be processed and red meat. So rather than scanning ingredients lists or looking for less harmful processed meats, the best thing to think about is how you can reduce how much of these foods you’re having. And there are plenty of other options to switch to such as fresh chicken, fish, or pulses like beans or lentils.

The evidence showing the link between processed meat and bowel cancer has looked at lots of different countries and populations, for example the EPIC study in European countries, and found an increased risk. The research also shows the more you eat the greater the increased risk. But it’s important to remember that the rest of the diet, as well as other factors like smoking, varies between countries, making it difficult to draw conclusions from bowel cancer incidence in different countries with different levels of processed meat consumption.

There’s no evidence to suggest preservatives in wine are linked to an increased risk of cancer. But there is strong evidence that alcohol, in all its forms, can cause cancer. The less alcohol you drink the more you reduce your risk, so making some small changes, like having alcohol free days or making your usual a small, can all add up and make a difference.

Katie, Cancer Research UK

Very thought-provoking but the article omits important reference data. What is the incidence of bowel cancer in persons who eat neither red nor processed meat?. Without this information, one cannot form a balanced view of the risk. Furthermore, at around 0.4/0.5%, the risk of eating even 76 grams of meat doesn’t seem very high. We are not given any figures on how it compares with the risk from smoking/obesity (other than being told it is much higher), which would be helpful.

Yes I believe there is significant risk.

excellent article… clear, understandable & compelling

This article is confusing and confused.

The title suggests it’s a look at processed meat but regularly mentions red meat, when CRUK’s own research recently found that red meat alone was not linked to colon cancer. And why are fresh meat sausages bundled in with preserved meat hot-dogs but not fresh meat burgers? And you don’t discuss the (poor) quality of the evidence, which is mostly based on recall-biased cased-controlled cohorts and unable-to-recall Food Frequency Questionnaires (“What did you eat last year?” – Biobank asked this!).

The evidence is far from clear!

Think it is interesting hearing results of recent research .

As a busy person I don’t have much time to ascertain which foods to avoid. A list put out regularly on new emails would be very helpful.

i have for a long time now eaten far more chicken & fish than red meat, & having read this article i will consume less & less red & processed meat until i can avoid it all together

The Italian diet has long been recognised as one of the healthiest in the world, yet the average Italian must eat processed salami & sausage every day…. How do their figures for bowel cancer stack up to ours and the rest of Europe?

I don’t eat much red meat but I do eat a lot of chicken and sometimes fish. The information I have just read was very interesting.

A very interesting read and very informative. Will definitely try and cut out my ham sandwiches and have an alternative. I didn’t realise the strong link to bowel cancer and processed and red meat.

Reducing red/smoked meat is relatively easy, but veg/pulse substitutes are not when you have Diverticulitis.

Brilliant reports giving lots of information from reliable sources that can be trusted

informative which gives you facts not hype from the media sources. I will reduce my red meat intake. However, I wonder how red meat eating countries such as France and Argentina fare in trials such as these.

I didn’t realise there was such a strong link between processed meat and bowel cancer

Very clear and informative article, I was aware of the link between red meat and cancer but it is good that this message is reinforced.

thought provoking & habit changing information

Clear, informative and well written article that covered what I wanted to know from the headline.

It’s good to have suspicions confirmed

I’m one of six sisters, I’ve lost one sister to bowel cancer and another has just been diagnosed stage four with bowel because bf the primary, my doctor has advised me regarding red and processed meats, I’ve made changes to my diet and hope it’s not too late, I’m 67.

Good advice

Very pleased to be getting this advice.

Useful info in the confusing world of how diet affects our risks of cancer but good to note the gaps that may be caused by diet changes

Hugely informative in layman’s terms

I’m interested in recent research results

Interesting studies, but is it not the chemicals used to process these meats more than just red meat. Our bodies are bombarded with pollutants and chemicals throughout our lives and even before we are born. Is there any wonder our cells mutate and die. Our bodies weren’t meant to absorb poisons and pollutants.

This has made me think seriously about the amount of processed and red meat I have in my diet. The amount I currently eat now worries me to the point of making me seek an alternative diet

Thank you for all the research and information

I’m confused as to what is the difference between processed food say a sausage and just pork. What is the processing that makes it worse?

frightening such a small amount, have people who have had cancer at a higher risk.

Really useful

Germany and other European countries are renowned for their cured meats. I wondered if they have the same national case rates as the UK and if Mediterreanian countries have lower ones due to the use of olive oil in their diet.

I am waiting (a long time) for a hernia operation. This has meant “impacting” of faeces. producing very solid and difficult to pass solids. I did a bowel self test about 18 months ago which was clear. Would this increase problem however? In a very mixed diet I do not eat red meat every day.

If you opt for the nitrate and nitrite free bacon now available is this ok or could it still have the same effect?

Why is your advice on a cancer research website only to cut down processed and red meat. Surely the headline should be “don’t eat it”. You have just said they are in group 1 and cause cancer. This leaves people feeling confused and that it is ok to eat it.

What about sulphites in wine do they have the same effect?

I have cut my red meat to once per week but I really do not enjoy eating it , this was a consequence if being part of a group called Care Across

I feel strongly, now the link between processed meat (and more than likely red meat) os beyond doubt Cancer Research should be promoting a stronger, clearer, message to the general public. I understand there is a vast, powerful, industry prohibiting this, but nevertheless I feel you are only hope.

It is frightening to see it laid out bare. What with climate change, blood pressure warnings, it is very timely

A very good article it certainly shows the part red meat has on our bowel. Luckily I hardly eat red meat. I wonder if it affects other cancers both my sons have been diagnosed with prostate cancer within a few months of each other . I wonder if their diet contributed to this

Very useful

I’ve recently tried to reduce my red meat intake to no more than 100g a week (essentially one day per week) and limit processed meat intake to the very odd occasion (you know, because I still enjoy my bacon and chorizo!). It’s easier than you might think to find alternative sources of protein and still get the other nutrients required for a healthy balanced diet all while reducing bowel cancer risk at the same time. My fruit and veg intake has gone right up which can only be a good thing right?

Informative up to date news on most common cancers. Sadly not on my particular disease

Excellent informative article easy to understand -I very rarely consume red meat and have pretty much stopped buying processed meats -apart from occasionally buying “Naked bacon ” (which contains no nitrites or nitrates)as a treat about once a month

This article has really helped me realise how serious the connection is and I am now considering cutting red meat out of my diet altogether to avoid the risk.

As a bowel cancer survivor at the age of 38 and mum of two young children at the time (I’m now 51, my mum also had bowel cancer at 67) and survived, both of us left with shorter bowels) I eat eat virtually no processed or red meat. As a consultant told my husband (his father died of bowel cancer) when he had a polyp removed from his bowel: ‘Leave red meat for birthdays, Christmas and when friends come round’, and sometimes we don’t even eat it then. A couple of years ago, we convinced our local butcher to start producing some of their bacon without preservatives. Now all of their sausages and bacon are produced this way. Our meals are now either vegetarian, vegan, a bit of fish and chicken, with the very occasional red meat, but we don’t look back.

The government should ban all of the harmful additives that are put into our food. We pay enough money for them . I’m going to buy more fish and chicken to make meals even though I do love a crispy bacon sarnie ha

Good to see the research and comparative risks. I might eat a bit less ham and red meat but at least I can balance the risks, and if I don’t want to deprive myself of enjoyable food, well no one else to blame if I’m one of the unlucky,

I recently bought Chicken chippolatas – not red meat but processed I suppose – I can’t win – will continue with lots of veg and fruit and granary bread.

I am pleased that the charity issues these scientific and medical facts.

*According to the data shown, if you eat 76g of red or processed meat per day, you will only have a 0.76% chance of getting cancer.

We all need to eat a balanced diet with lots of fruit and veg, be more active and tackle obesity. Some people don’t know how to change, they need help and advice

The Company’s that are putting these chemicals in our food should be made to stop the government should take a stand on this ban the chemicals ban use by dates and all the plastic packages and go back to buying our meats and cooked meats fresh over the counter we never had all these problems years ago (or did we)

Very informative

I think that ‘Government Advice’ has lost value, more so recently due to the lack of integrity of our MPs during the brexit debate! Also research and studies never give conclusive evidence, most seem biased to the result searched for and never give positive provable evidence that the people can understand and believe in.
Sorry to be so negative but to much information turns out to be wrong later.

My mother died of bowel cancer in 1977 age 65 but she ate very little red meat and a huge amount of vegetables from the garden. Your article informed me that there are other factors involved. I don’t eat much red meat but do use processed meat for sandwiches so I shall reduce this although I do understand that for the amount I eat the risk is not high.

All the information recently has made me massively review the types of food I am feeding my family! Thank you cancer research for allowing me to make the change before it’s too late!

The top tips are useful action points to put into practice.

The visuals alerted me to pork (and lamb) being a red meat – I hadn’t realised that before.

Having had cancer and my Dad dying of cancer at a young age I find your cancer blogs very informative especially with so much hype in the media

reasonable article

Go Vegan

Strongly suggest a careful read of this article to understand why meat, the food with which we have the longest evolutionary history, is not the culprit in cancer. https://chriskresser.com/red-meat-cancer-again-will-it-ever-stop/

Never will you see an article claiming donuts or cookies or candy or pie or other blood glucose boosters cause cancer, yet the best evidence confirms exactly that. Meat is decentralized, low-margin food. A box of cornflakes that retails for $3 contains 3 cents worth of corn. That’s why the anti-meat stuff never goes away, and carbs are pushed relentlessly.

This article is confusing and confused.

The title suggests a look at processed meat but regularly mentions red meat. CRUK’s recent research found that red meat alone was not linked to colon cancer. And why are fresh meat sausages but not fresh meat burgers bundled in with preserved meat hot-dogs? And you’ve not discussed the quality of the evidence, which is mostly based on recall-biased cased-controlled cohorts and unable-to-recall Food Frequency Questionnaires (“What did you eat last week?”).

The evidence is far from clear!