The World Health Organization said Monday that eating processed meat such as sausages and bacon causes cancer. They also say that unprocessed red meat could also be carcinogenic. 

The report states that eating 50 grams (roughly 1.8 ounces) of processed meat each day can increase your risk colorectal cancer by 18%.The authors do state that the risks are relatively small to begin with.

The WHO has placed processed meat in the same category as smoking and asbestos, but they have been emphatic about the fact that this doesn't mean they are equally as dangerous.

The WHO says that it is important to share these findings with the public because processed meat is eaten by so many. However, they have stressed that red meat still has “nutritional value.”

According to estimates cited in the study, about 34,000 cancer deaths per year worldwide can be attributed to diets that are high in processed meat.

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