Some Processed Meats Linked to Higher Rates of Cancer and Heart Disease, Possibly due to Preservatives

For breakfast lovers and lunchmeat fanatics, it is a sad day. Two of the staple foods-bacon and bologna-have been shown to accelerate the risk of two big time killers: cancer and heart disease.

A multinational group of scientists tracked the health and eating habits of bacon-loving Brits, wurst-munching Germans, jamon aficionados in Spain, as well as residents of seven other European countries - almost a half-million people in all.

According to NPR, they found that people who ate a lot of processed meats - more than 20 grams a day, the equivalent of one thin strip of bacon - were much more likely to die of heart attacks and stroke, and also had a higher cancer risk. The more processed meats they ate, the greater the risk.

This doesn't come as a surprise to many health experts, as processed meats are notoroiously high in fat, and can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. And this study squares with others on the risks of processed meats, including one 2012 study that found that people who ate one serving of processed meat a day increased their risk of death from cancer and heart disease by 20 percent; while people who ate red meat once a day increased their risk by 13 percent, compared with people who ate very little meat.

However, the data shows that the study did not find the same information with red meat.

Study leader Sabine Rohrmann and a professor of epidemiology at the University of Zurich, said that the increased risk for cancer may be due to a number of ingredients, including high salt content and other preservatives found in the meat, along with the smoke and nitrate.

The study was published Wednesday in the journal BMC Medicine.