BRITAIN’S leading cancer charity yesterday backed a decision by the World Health Organisation to brand processed meat products carcinogenic.

Cancer Research UK’s professor Tim Key said there was “substantial evidence” for a link between meat-eating and bowel cancer.

But he stressed: “Eating a bacon bap every once in a while isn’t going to do much harm — having a healthy diet is all about moderation.”

Those who consume a lot of red and processed meat may want to consider cutting down, he said.

He pointed out that red and processed meat cause fewer cases of cancer than some other lifestyle factors such as smoking.

The WHO’s researchers said processed meat was definitely and red meat probably a cause of cancer.

Friends of the Earth food campaigner Clare Oxborrow said: “This should be a wake-up call that our diets urgently need to change.

“Evidence shows that high meat diets not only harm our health, they damage our environment too.”