A coalition of leading scientists has demanded a UK ban on supermarket bacon and ham, citing a strong link between the nitrates used in these processed meats and more than 54,000 bowel cancer cases in the UK. Their analysis, based on data from Cancer Research UK and the British Journal of Cancer, revealed that around 5,400 cases of bowel cancer each year are caused by consuming processed meats, with the NHS spending an estimated £3 billion over the past decade treating these preventable cancers. Treatment costs per patient average £59,000.
The call for action comes exactly ten years after the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen, joining the same risk category as tobacco and asbestos. Despite this alarming classification, the UK government has taken minimal steps to reduce the public’s exposure to nitrites.
Professor Chris Elliott OBE, founder of the Institute for Global Food Security and former government adviser, criticised this lack of measure, saying, “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 behind the original WHO report have now formally urged Health Secretary Wes Streeting to ban nitrites in processed meats to prevent further human and financial costs from continuing consumption. A 2025 study found that completely eliminating meat from one’s diet may significantly reduce the risk of developing cancer, with figures reaching up to 45% less risk for some cancers compared to those consuming standard animal-based diets. The research discussed involved comparisons between people who refrain from consuming animal flesh (vegan and vegetarian American Adventists) and those following more old-fashioned diets.
