Could Antioxidants Save Our Bacan?

Nitrates and nitrites have long been linked to cancer. We look at how they are part of a chain reaction that may not always be harmful to human health... So what’s the case with bacon?

The launch of a nitrate- and nitrite-free bacon by Northern Ireland-based company Finnebrogue created more than a rumble of interest recently, as it hinted at the possibility of worry-free bacon butties.

Why worry-free? Because in 2015, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) had classified bacon as “carcinogenic to humans”. The cancer link wasn’t exclusive to bacon though; the classification included all processed meats that had been “transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation”, so ham, hot dogs, salami, and canned meats were on the list too. So for bacon-lovers, any product that is free from one of the cancer-causing nasties has to be good news indeed; but why had processed meats been given such a bad rap in the first place?

Cancer risk

To evaluate any cancer risk from red or processed meats, the IARC reviewed more than 800 studies on cancer in humans; out of these, more than 400 were on processed meat. What the IARC found was that eating processed meat was associated with small increases in the risk of cancer. Following analysis of 10 studies, it was also estimated that for every 50 g of processed meat eaten every day, the risk of colorectal (bowel) cancer increased by about 18 per cent. To put this into perspective, a couple of rashers of bacon could weigh between 30 and 60 g, depending upon their size. The NHS points out that a cooked breakfast containing two typical British sausages and two rashers of bacon is equivalent to 130 g.1