Experts are urging the UK government to introduce cigarette-style warning labels on bacon and ham, warning consumers that chemicals used in processed meats can cause bowel cancer.
The call comes a decade after the World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meat as carcinogenic to humans, placing it in the same category as tobacco and asbestos. Scientists say the government has done “virtually nothing” since then to reduce the risks posed by nitrites — preservatives that give cured meats their pink colour and long shelf life.
Researchers estimate that inaction over the past ten years has led to 54,000 bowel cancer cases in the UK, costing the NHS around £3 billion.
In a letter organised by the Coalition Against Nitrites, several experts — including four scientists involved in the original WHO warning — have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting. They are urging him to introduce mandatory health warnings on packaging and phase out nitrite use within a few years.
“Consumers deserve clear information,” said Prof Denis Corpet of Toulouse University. “Most people don’t realise that nitrite-cured meats are in the same carcinogenic category as tobacco and asbestos.”
The World Cancer Research Fund reaffirmed that processed meat increases colorectal cancer risk, noting that eating 50g of processed meat daily raises the risk by about 18%.
However, the charity stopped short of supporting mandatory warning labels, instead calling for stronger dietary guidelines and greater access to healthy food in public settings.
Prof Chris Elliott, a food safety expert and co-signatory of the letter, criticised government inaction: “Every year of delay means more preventable cancers, more families affected and greater strain on the NHS.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the Food Standards Agency has stated that evidence linking nitrates and nitrites to cancer “remains inconclusive.”
