A report from the World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer stated recently that there was enough evidence to rank processed meats such as ham, bacon and sausage as Group 1 carcinogens — the same category as cigarettes — because of a causal link with bowel cancer. The IARC report has caused considerable uneasiness in the general public and its conclusions have been violently rejected by the meat industry.
"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of their consumption of processed meats remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed," said Dr. Kurt Straif, head of the IARC monographs program. Processed meats are meats that have been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking and other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation.
The IARC report evaluated data from over 800 different studies of cancer risks in humans, over 700 of which involved red meat and over 400 of which involved processed meat. A team of 22 international experts reviewed the evidence. The report places processed meats in Group 1: Carcinogenic to Humans. However, red meat (beef, pork, lamb) is assigned to Group 2A: Probably Carcinogenic to Humans.