Supermarkets hit by falling demand for nitrite-cured bacon due to cancer fears

In 2016 the World Health Organization declared that processed meats, including bacon, were a cause of cancer. Photograph: Jozef Polc/Alamy

UK supermarkets have been hit by a “bacon backlash” as consumers fear that chemicals used to preserve it increase the risk of cancer.

Campaigners against the use of nitrites in meat production claimed the fall in sales showed that a “consumer revolt” against the traditional, nitrite-cured form of bacon was gathering pace.