This month marks ten years since the World Health Organisation classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen – on a par with cigarettes and tobacco. At the time, the decision was based on robust evidence linking regular consumption of processed meats such as bacon and ham to an increased risk of colorectal cancer.
A decade on, the scientific case has only strengthened, with further epidemiological and mechanistic studies reinforcing concern over the role of nitrites in the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines. Yet despite this growing body of evidence, progress in the UK to protect public health has been slow and fragmented.
In response, the Coalition Against Nitrites – a group of leading food scientists, cancer specialists and public health experts, including four of the original authors of the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer’s 2015 report – have written to the UK’s health secretary, Wes Streeting, calling for urgent action. The coalition warns that successive governments have failed to implement meaningful measures to reduce exposure to known carcinogens in processed meat products, leaving consumers inadequately informed and unnecessarily at risk.
In their letter, the scientists write: “There has been no meaningful phase-out of nitrite use, no mandatory front-of-pack cancer warning to inform consumers, and little support for producers to transition to safer alternatives. We therefore respectfully but urgently call on your Department to act on the evidence.”
In addition to introducing front-of-pack warning labels on processed meat, greater investment in safer preservation technologies and a long-term strategy to phase out nitrites from processed meat, the UK government could also, of course, promote campaigns such as Meat Free Monday – a low-cost, practical way to improve diets and cut cancer risk.