Scientists discovered the strongest evidence yet that there is a connection between processed meats and breast cancer. They said that the food could account for 1 in 6 cases of the disease.
Middle aged women who eat more than 9g of sausages and bacon per day were approximately 20 per cent more likely to develop breast cancer than those who avoid processed meats.
In younger women, there was no connection found between the meats and breast cancer.
The World Health Organisation already classifies salted, cured and fermented meats as being a leading cause of bowel cancer.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow analysed more than 260,000 middle-aged British women for the study and found that processed meats could have been behind hundreds of avoidable cases of breast cancer per year.
The findings which were published in the European Journal of Cancer, showed that women who ate small portions of processed meats infrequently were still 15 per cent more likely to develop breast cancer.
Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at Glasgow, told The Sun: “My public health advice for women would be: if you’re particularly concerned about breast cancer, then it might be another incentive to improve your quality of diet by eating less processed meats.”
Dr Jasmine Just from Cancer Research UK said that the study does not conclusively suggest a link between processed meats and breast cancer as it “didn’t take into account other important factors that affect breast cancer risk like screening and family history.”
However, she said: “The best ways to reduce the risk of breast cancer are to keep a healthy weight, cut down on alcohol and be physically active.
"Eating a lot of processed meat does increase the risk of bowel cancer though, so while the odd salami sandwich won’t do much harm, it’s still a good idea to cut down where you can.”
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