To eat, or not to eat, red and processed meat

A report by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer has said there is enough evidence to rank processed meats - such as ham, bacon and sausages - as "group 1 carcinogens", because of their causal link with bowel cancer. Processed meats are meats that have been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, and other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation.

Expectedly, the IARC report has caused uneasiness among the public worldwide and its conclusion has been violently rejected by the meat industry.

"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal cancer because of ... consumption of processed meats remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed," said Kurt Straif, head of the IARC monograph program.