Bacon And Cancer. Nitrites are perhaps the best known cancer risk in bacon. On the other hand close to 29 times that amount 1 million people die of cancer every year from smoking tobacco.
On the other hand close to 29 times that amount 1 million people die of cancer every year from smoking tobacco. But frequency does play a role. International research group global burden of disease project estimates that roughly 34 000 cancer deaths per year across the globe can be attributed to diets high in processed meats like bacon.
The evidence linking processed and red meat to cancer has been stacking up for over a decade.
But frequency does play a role. The study also found that processed meat like sausages or bacon posed a bigger risk than red meat with the risk of colorectal cancer rising 20 with every 25 grams of processed meat roughly. This places bacon in the same group as tobacco. Any time someone eats bacon ham or other processed meat their gut receives a dose of nitrosamines which damage the cells in the lining of the bowel and can lead to cancer.
