WHO says "processed meat causes cancer"

Un-smoked bacon is still cured with salts including nitrates. It's by products of the nitrates interacting with the meat that turn into carcinogenic nitrosamines if the bacon is cooked at a high temperature. We're talking over 180deg C here, a gentle fry or oven cook would be fine. Smoking introducing some extra chemical nasties but it's the curing process that's the major concern. I don't think that WHO has distinguished between smoked cured products and no-smoked cured products.

Edit: You may be thinking of homemade bacon using only salt without nitrates or nitrites? That should be a lot "safer", but you tend to get salted pork rather than "bacon"
We used to get nitrate free bacon in waitrose, they stopped doing it unfortunately :(
The way you could tell is by all the white gunk that oozes out.
 
We used to get nitrate free bacon in waitrose, they stopped doing it unfortunately :(
The way you could tell is by all the white gunk that oozes out.

AFAIK - The reason they use the (potassium)nitrate, although not healthy for us in and off themselves, is that they are the only thing they can use that isn't going to kill us outright that will stop botulinum bacteria from reproducing and producing their toxin ... it doesn't kill them, but puts them into a none active state.

The risk of nitrates on health is far outweighed by the risks of food poisoning from botulism - the most toxic thing there is.
 
All I really can attest to is it didn't have all that white gunk that comes out of bacon from everywhere else.
 
White gunk comes out if it's stuffed full of water and chemicals designed to absorb extra water, rather than the cure used. You will always get less or none with a dry cured bacon regardless of the amount of curing agents. Proper curing uses salt to pull moisture out of the meat, not force it in :)
Well thats counterintuitive, I wonder why the supermarkets pump it full of water then? :devil:
 
They sell it by weight not by the slice, but judging from your devil smiley, you knew that :) :thumbsup:
 
The problem with how studies like this are reported, is that they make the public sceptical of science as a whole. Nothing is trusted, and science stops becoming 'science' and starts becoming 'an opinion'. We see this everywhere - Channel 5 is reshowing the awful moon landing hoax film on Thursday.
I'd like to see the full study and how it was conducted. Anyone have any links?
 
I tried Quorn last night. Well, I tried to try it.

I kept gagging whenever I put a fork of bolognese in my mouth.

Awful stuff.
 
They sell it by weight not by the slice, but judging from your devil smiley, you knew that :) :thumbsup:
You know, I used to be able to tell jokes once. :thumbsdow
 
The problem with how studies like this are reported, is that they make the public sceptical of science as a whole. Nothing is trusted, and science stops becoming 'science' and starts becoming 'an opinion'. We see this everywhere - Channel 5 is reshowing the awful moon landing hoax film on Thursday.
I'd like to see the full study and how it was conducted. Anyone have any links?
Press release with further links is here: http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2015/pdfs/pr240_E.pdf Note that they did a review of the literature rather than actual research themselves.
 
So, Brown sauce or red sauce?
If we're all going to get cancer from bacon we may as well enjoy the ride.

And why bacon of all things? It's like death by snoo snoo
 
The risk of nitrates on health is far outweighed by the risks of food poisoning from botulism - the most toxic thing there is.
More toxic than a tramps pants?
 
More toxic than a tramps pants?
Didn't you see the news last week? Tramps pants are good for you. Just hold your nose as you boil them.
 
As a home smoker of food, I'm probably more likely to die from smoke inhalation related cancer than eating my home smoked products. Be warned balidey :)
 
Yes I smoked cheese, but I didn't inhale
 
This front page headline containing the C word on the BBC website caught my attention and has led me to brave General Chat. Then i read this:
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.
Two points then:
1. The report does not actually say processed meats causes cancer, but suggests an increased risk
2. The relative risk is a lot less alarming than "18% increase" statistic.
 
I find even the 6/100 people to be spurious. I know a few people and family members that have had cancer. Not one had bowel cancer.

Mind you according to Cancer UK 50% of the population will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lifetime which I also find high.
 
I find even the 6/100 people to be spurious. I know a few people and family members that have had cancer. Not one had bowel cancer.

I will take a national average over your anecdote if that's ok :p

The main risk factors are being over 60 (9/10 people diagnosed are), overweight and with a bad diet, among other things. Know many people in that demographic?

Bowel cancer - NHS Choices
 
I have / had bowel cancer - not caused by meat consumption, but by genetics. I have Lynch Syndrome.
It's up to you, but I would personally recommend getting protein from non-processed-meat sources to avoid going through (in later life) what I went through 5-6 years ago.
 
Pins are now available for anyone who supports bacon fearmongering awareness

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Let's not forget that the data this is based on is global so there are an awful lot of variables including combinations of other environment/lifestyle factors.
Also, good bacon doesn't have all the extra crap pumped into it.
 
Too much of anything is a bad thing.

Personally I think diesel is the largest contributor to cancer.
 
Tobacco is.
 

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