The research, compiling results from 11 different prospective studies, received a lot of coverage in the UK, but the meat industry warned not to take its conclusions too seriously. Dr Carrie Ruxton, a nutritionist on the British Meat Advisory Panel (MAP), said: “These types of studies (...) do not properly control for other factors which influence the cancer risk.”
The report, written by researchers S C Larsson and A Wolk, also admits to a relatively high margin of error, as the studies used did not all examine the same confounders. “Another limitation is that our findings were likely to be affected by imprecise measurement of red and processed meat consumption and potential confounders,” it adds.
UK meat industry leaders reassured consumers, saying there were no reasons why bacon and sausages could not be consumed as part of a balanced diet.