The New Zealand meat industry is downplaying a report that says bacon, ham and sausages cause cancer.
World Health Organisation (WHO) experts have put processed meat in the same cancer-causing category as cigarettes – but Kiwi pig farmers aren't buying it.
"It's a pretty over the top reaction to suggest it's leading to people's deaths," says pig farmer Steven Sterne. "It's probably a good headline grabber, but it's not the reality."
WHO disagrees – it has ranked processed meat in the highest cancer risk category, alongside asbestos and even smoking.
"Processed meats are treated with different chemicals in order to preserve the meat and some of those chemicals are nitrates and those nitrates can react in the body and form carcinogens," says WHO expert Dr Mariana Stern.
So how much is too much?
Around 50 grams of processed meat – the equivalent of a bacon sandwich – increases the chance of developing bowel cancer by 18 percent.
Fresh red meat is also ranked as a "probable" carcinogen.
But the New Zealand meat industry says the report should be taken with a pinch of salt.
"As far as we understand there's no evidence to show that any single food causes cancer," says Beef and Lamb NZ spokesperson Fiona Greig.
WHO experts say although processed meat is now in the same category as smoking, the amount of risk is nowhere near as high.
While 21 percent of bowel cancers are caused by processed or red meat, 86 percent of lung cancers are caused by tobacco and 19 percent of all cancers are caused by tobacco compared to three percent of all cancers caused by processed or red meat.
And if you can't give up your classic Kiwi fry-up?
"Go for a real meat sausage, with limited amounts of preservatives – not the ones that are heavily smoked, cured or salted," says Healthy Food Guide nutritionist Claire Turnbull.
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