this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2025
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Bacon and ham sold in the UK should carry cigarette-style labels warning that chemicals in them cause bowel cancer, scientists say.

Their demand comes as they criticise successive British governments for doing “virtually nothing” to reduce the risk from nitrites in the decade since they were found to definitely cause cancer.

Saturday marks a decade since the World Health Organization in October 2015 declared processed meat declared processed meat to be carcinogenic to humans, putting it in the same category as tobacco and asbestos.

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[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 63 points 5 days ago (6 children)

They just want to keep the bacon for themselves.

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[–] Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works 28 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Oh boy, can’t wait to see right wing screeches about Muslim takeover of UK.

IMO every food should have cancer rating in the nutrition facts, cause it’s not black and white.

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[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 22 points 5 days ago (4 children)

Look mate.

In this cold, bleak and heartless blasted hell of an existence this is one of the few genuine pleasures I have guilt free.

[–] astutemural@midwest.social 10 points 5 days ago (3 children)

...do I bring up the factory farms now or come back later?

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[–] hotdogcharmer@lemmy.zip 9 points 5 days ago

You don't have to feel guilty about risking your own health! I never felt guilty about smoking (never smoked other than in smoking areas), I never feel guilty about eating processed bullshit that is probably no good for me.

This world is too cold to feel guilty for something that only affects you! 🫡

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

one of the few genuine pleasures I have guilt free.

Had. "Had" guilt free.

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[–] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 21 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I mean processed meat sure.

But you can pull bacon from my cold, dead, cancerous hands.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 6 points 4 days ago

Good news! It's bowel cancer, not hand cancer.

[–] rozodru@piefed.social 14 points 5 days ago (3 children)

might as well just slap cancer warnings on everything these days. Launch a massive banner to orbit so everywhere can see the cancer warning for the sun. Doctors need to hold a cancer warning sign when a baby is being birthed so it'll be the first thing they see because you can literally just get cancer for simply living.

[–] turdcollector69@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (1 children)

We may as well flatten the whole planet to eliminate the risk of falling down stairs.

I hate how far people go to safety pad the whole planet when an ounce of personality responsibility is all that's needed.

[–] astutemural@midwest.social 11 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Except personal responsibility is impossible when people don't know that xyz food causes cancer.

That's why they're asking for a label. So that people can make an informed choice. That's literally their entire point.

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[–] JamieDub86@piefed.social 5 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Wait till you hear about oxygen, or water.

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[–] turdcollector69@lemmy.world 13 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Putting nitrates in the same category as fucking asbestos is literally insane.

It's like putting a Glock and a 10,000kg bomb in the same category, it's utterly disingenuous.

[–] blave@lemmy.world 24 points 5 days ago (8 children)

Not if the category is “causes cancer” — nor, in the case of your Glock and bomb, if the category is “can kill you”

Context matters

[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 13 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

And fittingly, both of those categories are pretty much a perfectly overlapping venn diagram because they are so overarchingly vague.
Drinking water can kill you, and if it's too hot, it causes cancer.

Therefore "drinking water" is something that can be found it both lists. And so is "not drinking water".

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[–] JamieDub86@piefed.social 9 points 5 days ago (9 children)

But everyone knows not to and therefore doesn't go near asbestos. Almost anyone who eats meat eats bacon.

literally everything has a prop 65 warning on it

Maybe stop putting things in stuff that mean that they require this warning?

But what do I know...

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[–] unpossum@sh.itjust.works 7 points 5 days ago (1 children)

The category just means that there is scientific proof of carcinogenicity. The WHO states (somewhere) that it’s not to be taken to mean that bacon is as dangerous as tobacco. Of course, that’s what everyone thinks they mean, so maybe they should work on their messaging

[–] turdcollector69@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago

That's what I'm saying, putting nitrates next to hardcore carcinogens like asbestos makes the hardcore carcinogens look less harmful than they actually are.

They need to differentiate the levels of harm or else it's just another warning that people will ignore because it's on literally everything.

[–] CatsPajamas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 5 days ago

I mean ... They cause cancer. We literally know they do. It should at least be fucking STATED. Like come the fuck on

[–] shirro@aussie.zone 12 points 4 days ago

Is the UK going to start putting cancer labels on Gin, Scotch Whisky, ale and cider? Because alcohol is not just a proven carcinogen but also toxic to a number of organs and a huge public health problem. It is a much, much larger health problem than bacon. The anti-meat lobby is extremely passionate about their cause. They have some strong arguments about the ethics of factory farming and the environmental impacts but it does make any proposal like this suspect because you just know that some of the proponents are more concerned about the ethics of meat eating than the health impacts.

[–] spearz@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago (6 children)

In the UK (not sure about anywhere else) you can buy bacon without Nitrates. ‘Naked Bacon’ is in sainsburys, tesco, etc. Been buying it for years.

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[–] Redex68@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago (2 children)

I'll copy some of the answers from the WHO Q&A linked in the post:

Processed meat was classified in the same category as tobacco and asbestos, does that mean they're equally carcinogenic?

No, processed meat has been classified in the same category as causes of cancer such as tobacco smoking and asbestos (IARC Group 1, carcinogenic to humans), but this does NOT mean that they are all equally dangerous. The IARC classifications describe the strength of the scientific evidence about an agent being a cause of cancer, rather than assessing the level of risk.

How many cancer cases per year?

According to the most recent estimates by the Global Burden of Disease Project, an independent academic research organization, about 34 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide are attributable to diets high in processed meat.

Eating red meat has not yet been established as a cause of cancer. However, if the reported associations were proven to be causal, the Global Burden of Disease Project has estimated that diets high in red meat could be responsible for 50 000 cancer deaths per year worldwide.

These numbers contrast with about 1 million cancer deaths per year globally due to tobacco smoking, 600 000 per year due to alcohol consumption, and more than 200 000 per year due to air pollution.

How much is the risk of cancer increased?

The consumption of processed meat was associated with small increases in the risk of cancer in the studies reviewed. In those studies, the risk generally increased with the amount of meat consumed. An analysis of data from 10 studies estimated that every 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by about 18%.

The cancer risk related to the consumption of red meat is more difficult to estimate because the evidence that red meat causes cancer is not as strong. However, if the association of red meat and colorectal cancer were proven to be causal, data from the same studies suggest that the risk of colorectal cancer could increase by 17% for every 100 gram portion of red meat eaten daily.

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[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 5 days ago (31 children)

Who cares anymore, life is so depressing and the future so bleak that it doesn't matter. By the time the average person will get cancer from bacon we'll be dead from fascism.

[–] Texas_Hangover@lemmy.radio 6 points 4 days ago

That's the attitude! 😁👍

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[–] nosuchanon@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

WARNING: Bacon contains chemicals known to the UK Government to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.

So it’s fine if I just don’t eat the bacon in the UK? Then I am safe!

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[–] Mrkawfee@feddit.uk 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Sausages are OK right? Right?

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Depends on what you are doing with the sausages.

[–] Coldcell@sh.itjust.works 6 points 5 days ago

Wrapping them in bacon...

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[–] 1985MustangCobra@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago (2 children)

put the cancer warnings, like smoking people will still consume it.

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (10 children)

A bunch of the stuff I buy has CA cancer warnings on it. When you start putting the warnings on common things, it makes the warnings meaningless...

Do any of the things I buy have a notable chance to cause caner? I have no fucking clue, because everything causes cancer in California.

[–] MonkeMischief@lemmy.today 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

That's something I've noticed too. There's not really any information about what parts of something to avoid or what the risk is or how you'd come into contact with it, but I remember seeing it everywhere when I lived there too, and I was like

"Everything in California including California is known to the state of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm."

I'm not saying it shouldn't be there at all, but at least wish it was a bit more like Material Safety Data Sheets that gives a bit more understanding to what you're getting into by interacting with various things.

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[–] webp@mander.xyz 5 points 4 days ago (3 children)

Yeah but imagine having to explain to your daughter at breakfast, "Daddy, what's that on the label? What's cancer?"

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

"Don't worry about it, honey. This is just more government bullshit, like with COVID and Brexit. The Muslims are trying to make eating pork illegal. Have an extra portion. Don't let them tell you what to do."

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