The World Health Organization will soon provide guidelines on whether some meats should be put in the category of carcinogens, BBC reports.
The cancer body of WHO has lately been evaluating the evidence whether red and processed meats increase the risk of bowel and other cancers.
Red meat and white meat differ in levels of hemoglobin and myoglobin. Red meat has higher levels of the iron and oxygen-binding proteins that you find in blood and muscle.
Processed meat does not belong to the category of fresh meat, as it is either smoked, cured or has preservatives added to it to increase its shelf life. It includes bacon, sausages and ham.
The Department of Health advises the consumption of healthier meat or meat products, such as lean cuts and lean mince. The department also advices lower intake of processed meat.
Dr Louis Levy, head of nutrition science at Public Health England, said the agency would consider the report once it was published.
"In the meantime, official advice is that people should consume no more than 70g a day on average - for example, a couple of sausages or rashers of bacon.
"Our surveys show that many of us are eating too much red and processed meat which may be linked to an increased risk in colorectal cancer."
Dr Ian Johnson, of the Institute of Food Research, said that even though there was evidence of a connection between processed meat consumption and bowel cancer, but "the size of the effect is relatively small, and the mechanism is poorly defined".
"It is certainly very inappropriate to suggest that any adverse effect of bacon and sausages on the risk of bowel cancer is comparable to the dangers of tobacco smoke, which is loaded with known chemical carcinogens and increases the risk of lung cancer in cigarette smokers by around 20-fold," He added.
