Video Shows Consequences of McDonald’s Bacon Hour

Tomorrow, McDonald’s will be dishing out free bacon—and an increased risk for cancer, diabetes, and heart disease—to customers during Bacon Hour.

Bacon increases the risk of colorectal cancer and has been classified as “carcinogenic to humans” by the World Health Organization. After reviewing more than 800 studies, WHO concluded that each 50-gram portion of processed meat (a few slices of bacon or a hot dog) eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. The World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research have also found that “the evidence on processed meat and cancer is clear-cut.” Both the American Medical Association and the American College of Cardiology have recommended that hospitals remove processed meat from menus.

Colorectal cancer isn’t the only cancer risk that comes from consuming processed meat. Eating 50 grams of processed meat daily also increases the risk of prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and overall cancer mortality. And a study of more than 200,000 women found that eating about 20 grams of processed meat each day—less than half the size of a regular hot dog—increased breast cancer risk by 21 percent.

Those who consume the most processed meat also have an increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, according to a National Institutes of Health study of more than half a million people. A study published in JAMA found that processed meat consumption was tied to 57,766 deaths from cardiometabolic diseases in 2012.