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.
What is processed meat?
Processed meat has been modified to either extend its shelf life or change the taste and the main methods are smoking, curing, or adding salt or preservatives.
Simply putting beef through a
mincer does not mean the resulting mince is "processed" unless it is
modified further.
Processed meat includes bacon,
sausages, hot dogs, salami, corned beef, beef jerky and ham as well as canned
meat and meat-based sauces.
In the UK, around six out of every
100 people get bowel cancer at some point in their lives.
If they were all had an extra 50g
of bacon a day for the rest of their lives then the risk would increase by 18%
to around seven in 100 people getting bowel cancer.
"So that's one extra case of
bowel cancer in all those 100 lifetime bacon-eaters," argued Sir David
Spiegelhalter, a risk professor from the University of Cambridge.
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.
Red meat risk
In context
21%
of bowel cancers are caused by
processed or red meat
86%
of lung cancers are caused by
tobacco
·
19% of all
cancers caused by tobacco compared to
·
3% of all cancers
ascribed to red or processed meat
Source: Cancer Research UK
PA
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.
Little harm
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."
Dr Teresa Norat, one of the
advisors to the WHO report and from Imperial College London, said there were
many factors causing bowel cancer.
She told BBC News website:
"People should limit consumption of red meat and avoid consuming processed
meat, but they should also have a diet rich in fibre, from fruit and vegetables
and maintain an adequate body weight throughout life and limit the consumption
of alcohol and be physically active."
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. COURTESY BBC HEALTH
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