Last month, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency reported that eating processed meats, including hot dogs and bacon, can cause cancer, according to USA Today.
Since the report was released, bacon and sausage sales have plummeted in the United Kingdom, according to TechTimes.
Supermarkets in the U.K. reportedly saw an over $4 million decrease in the sales of process meat products over the last two weeks. Pre-packed bacon sales reportedly dropped 17 percent in the week following the WHO report, according to data from IRI Retail Advantage.
Those in the meat industry have reportedly put up websites and prepared counter claims and studies after WHO gave processed meats a Category One rating, which puts them in the same classification as cigarette smoking.
“These are studies that draw correlation, not causation. So these are studies that cannot be used to determine cause and effect,” said Shalene McNeill, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Human Nutrition Research director.
Despite these counter arguments, the sharp decline of sales reportedly continued on for weeks after the report was released.
Pre-packaged sausage sales reportedly dipped 15.6 percent in the last week of October, as well as 13.9 percent the following week. A U.K.-based grocery sales magazine reportedly cited that fresh British sausages should be excluded from the processed meats category.
Surprisingly, despite the results of the WHO report, companies in the United States haven’t been hit with plummeting meat sales.
“Considering we ship out about 30,000 pounds of food a day, we braced ourselves… for an onslaught of calls from customers with questions and concerns. We received zero,” recounted Shane Allen, spokesperson for a national weight loss and healthy food delivery company located near Dallas.
No customer they spoke to within a 48-hour period after the release of the report “batted an eye at the WHO’s ridiculous announcement.”
