The vast majority of bacon on supermarket shelves, for example, contains nitrites but a growing body of research has emerged to suggest these chemicals may be linked to cancer.Since then, further research has homed in specifically on the relationship between nitrites, a food-preserving chemical, and cancer."In terms of the overall number of GI tumors, the frankfurter group had the highest with a mean of 11.2 and this was significantly more (p = 0.002) than the control which had a mean of 7.3 tumors, it was also significantly higher (p = 0.029) than the sausage group which had a mean of 8.6 tumors, and significantly higher (p = 0.019) than the pork group which had a mean of 8.3 tumors," the researchers write in the study.Chris Elliot, director of the Institute for Global Food Safety at Queen’s University, said the study findings affirm the relationship between nitrites and cancer."The everyday consumption of nitrite-containing bacon and ham poses a very real risk to public health.”In mid-2022 France became one of the first countries in the world to formally begin limiting the use of nitrites in food products."