The World Cancer Research Fund recommends eating “very little, if any, processed meat because there is strong evidence it is a cause of bowel cancer”.
Sodium nitrite can be converted into cancer-causing chemicals called N-nitroso compounds in the body, according to Cancer Research UK. Heterocyclic amines and polycyclic amines may also be to blame. These are produced when meat is cooked at a high temperature and can damage cells in the bowel.To learn more about the dangers of processed meat, the Belfast scientists looked at 61 studies investigating the link between the popular foods and cancer.When the scientists only looked at sodium nitrite, however, this rose to just under two-thirds .
Bacon and ham are also increasingly available without the controversial preservative, the scientists claim.Based on their results, the team want to see the cancer risk of different forms of processed meats defined differently, according to whether they contain nitrites.