A food beloved by Brits could not only raise your risk of dying younger but make you vulnerable to a whole host of deadly conditions, according to research. Eating this food regularly could increase your chances of developing dementia, heart disease, and even cancer.

The food in question? Processed meat. This refers to any meat that has gone through preservation techniques like smoking, curing, salting, or the addition of preservatives. 

This includes common items like ham, hot dogs, deli meats, and, of course, two major components of an English fry up – bacon and sausages. One study of half a million people, published in the journal BMC Medicine in 2013, concluded that diets high in processed meats were linked early deaths.

It was also linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Researchers suggested that said the salt and chemicals used to preserve the meat may damage health.

Over a period of 13 years one in every 17 participants died. It was calculated that those who consumed more than 160g of processed meat each day – equivalent to two sausages and a slice of bacon – were 44% more likely to die than those eating about 20g.

The study also showed people who ate a lot of processed meat were more likely be obese and smoke have other behaviours known to damage health.But even after those risk factors were accounted for, processed meat still damaged health.

Eating lean meats such as chicken and turkey were not shown to have the same effect. The study authors wrote: “Significant associations with processed meat intake were observed for cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and ‘other causes of death’. The consumption of poultry was not related to all-cause mortality.

“The results of our analysis support a moderate positive association between processed meat consumption and mortality, in particular due to cardiovascular diseases, but also to cancer.”

Their findings are supported by research from a team at the University of Edinburgh. In their study, which was published in The Lancet Planetary Health, they worked out that reducing your processed meat intake by 30% was enough to see significant results. 

More specifically, they determined that if Americans slashed their intake by that amount over a 10 year period it could lead to around:

• 353,000 fewer cases of type 2 diabetes
• 92,500 fewer cases of cardiovascular disease
• 53,300 fewer cases of bowel cancer.

It could also lead to 16,700 fewer deaths from all causes, they said. Based on data of more than 242 million adults this would be the equivalent of cutting out 10 slices of bacon each week.

As part of the study, computer modelling was utilised to simulate how cutting back on processed and unprocessed red meat to various degrees would impact public health. These findings were most significant for processed meats like bacon, hot dogs, and deli meats, but there were also benefits to limiting unprocessed red meat intake.

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Separate to these studies, research has also found that eating processed red meat could increase your risk of dementia. A paper, published in Neurology journal this year, showed that people who eat more than a quarter serving of processed red meat daily have a 13% higher risk of developing dementia compared to those who eat less.

Study authors noted: “Higher intake of red meat, particularly processed red meat, was associated with a higher risk of developing dementia and worse cognition. Reducing red meat consumption could be included in dietary guidelines to promote cognitive health.”

According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the current recommendations for the UK aim to keep our intake of red and processed meat to 70g or less a day.