More than half back cigarette-style warnings on ham and bacon

More than half back cigarette-style warnings on ham and bacon 55% of people would like to see cancer warnings on some meat Most people in the UK want to see warnings on packets of ham, bacon and sausages like the ones carried on tobacco and cigarettes. A poll for The Grocer found 55% of people would support health warnings on cured meat. Last year, health experts called for the warnings alongside a number of other measures a decade after the World Health Organisation (WHO) said cured meats are as great a cancer risk as asbestos and tobacco. The Coalition Against Nitrites, using Cancer Research UK and British Journal of Cancer data, said more than 50,000 people in the UK have suffered from bowel cancer in the last 10 years as a result of a lack of action since the WHO report. 84 per cent of people who were aware of the health risk of cured meats say they have changed their diet as a result, buying less meat, switching to nitrite-free meat or cutting all processed meats from their diet. 46% said they would support a ban on nitrites in meat. A spokesman for the Coalition Against Nitrites said : ”When a known carcinogenic chemical is no longer needed in food production, there can be no justification for continuing to use it.” Ian Young, chief scientific advisor for the Food Standards Agency said: “The exact cause of these risks remains unclear, and this is why we fully support the NHS advice that people who eat more than 90g of red or processed meat a day should cut down to no more than 70g. It’s important to understand that choosing nitrite-free processed meat does not remove all of the health risks associated with high consumption of processed meat.”