The most convincing evidence of a link to bowel cancer comes from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), who in 2011 combined the results of a number of previous studies, to try to get a clear overall picture. They were able to group the research findings according to those who ate the most red and processed meat and those who ate the least. A key finding was that red meat and processed meat aren’t equally harmful – processed meat is more strongly linked to bowel cancer than red meat.
The results showed that those who ate the most processed meat had around a 17 per cent higher risk of developing bowel cancer, compared to those who ate the least. This might sound like a lot – but this is a ‘relative’ risk, and in reality, everyone’s risk will be different as there are many different factors at play.
