Beware!!!! Bacon, Ham, Sausages and Hot Dogs do cause Colon Cancer-WHO.

Processed meats such as bacon, sausages and
ham – do cause cancer, according to the World
Health Organization (WHO).
Its report said 50g of processed meat a day –
less than two slices of bacon – increased the
chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.
Meanwhile, it said red meats were “probably
carcinogenic” but there was limited evidence.
The WHO did stress that meat also had health
benefits.
Cancer Research UK said this was a reason to
cut down rather than give up red and processed
meats.
And added that an occasional bacon sandwich
would do little harm.
Processed meat is meat that has been modified
to increase its shelf-life or alter its taste, such as
by smoking, curing or adding salt or
preservatives.
It is these additions which could be increasing the
risk of cancer. High temperature cooking, such as
on a barbeque, can also create carcinogenic
chemicals.
The WHO has come to the conclusion on the
advice of its International Agency for Research on
Cancer, which assesses the best available
scientific evidence.
It has now placed processed meat in the same
category as plutonium, but also alcohol as they
definitely do cause cancer.
However, this does not mean they are equally
dangerous. A bacon sandwich is not as bad as
smoking.
“For an individual, the risk of developing
colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their
consumption of processed meat remains small,
but this risk increases with the amount of meat
consumed,” Dr Kurt Straif from the WHO said.
Estimates suggest 34,000 deaths from cancer
every year could be down to diets high in
processed meat.
That is in contrast to one million deaths from
cancer caused by smoking and 600,000 attributed
to alcohol each year.
Red meat does have nutritional value too and is a
major source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12.
However, the WHO said there was limited
evidence that 100g of red meat a day increased
the risk of cancer by 17%.
An eight ounce steak is 225g.
The WHO said its findings were important for
helping countries give balanced dietary advice.
Prof Tim Key, from the Cancer Research UK and
the University of Oxford, said: “This decision
doesn’t mean you need to stop eating any red
and processed meat, but if you eat lots of it you
may want to think about cutting down.
“Eating a bacon bap every once in a while isn’t
going to do much harm – having a healthy diet is
all about moderation.”
The industry body the Meat Advisory Panel said
“avoiding red meat in the diet is not a protective
strategy against cancer” and said the focus
should be alcohol, smoking and body weight.