By Dr Gunter Kuhnle, Nutritional epidemiologist, University of Reading
A few years ago, the decision by the WHO to classify processed meat as carcinogenic to humans has resulted in a lot of headlines. Unsurprisingly, comparing a full English breakfast with cigarettes didn’t go down too well.
This was of course an exaggeration – but the fact remains that processed meat consumption can increase the risk of bowel cancer.
So what are the real risks?