The World Health Organization has classified processed meats including ham, bacon, salami, sausages and frankfurts as a Group 1 carcinogen (known to cause cancer) which means that there’s strong evidence that processed meats cause cancer. Eating processed meat increases your risk of bowel and stomach cancer.

Processed meat refers to meat that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation. Most processed meats contain pork or beef, but processed meats may also contain other red meats, poultry, offal, or meat by-products such as blood.

Red meat, such as beef, lamb and pork, has been classified as a Group 2A carcinogen which means it probably causes cancer.

Red meat refers to all mammalian muscle meat, including, beef, veal, pork, lamb, mutton, horse, and goat

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.

Did you know if you’ve had cancer, maintaining a healthy diet can help prevent it from coming back?

To reduce your risk of cancer, it’s  recommended eating no more than 1 serve of lean red meat per day or 2 serves 3-4 times per week. Red meat includes beef, lamb and pork.

Cut out processed meats altogether or keep them to an absolute minimum. Processed meats include bacon, ham, devon, sausages(hot dogs), frankfurts, chorizo, cabanossi and kransky.

Cutting down on red and processed meats will reduce your cancer risk.