With recent newspaper stories citing processed meat as a cause of cancer, anyone might have thought twice about taking another bite of their bacon butty. But look behind the scary headlines, and you’ll see you can still enjoy eating meat as part of a balanced diet.
October’s biggest health story was the news that a World Health Organisation study had labelled processed meat such as bacon, salami and sausages a Group 1 carcinogen – placing it alongside smoking as a definite cause of cancer. This has made lots of people worried, but it’s important to understand that enjoying sausage and mash or a full English breakfast every now and then is nowhere near as bad for you as smoking – and as well as providing protein and other essential nutrients, will actually do you little harm at all.
