Experts urge restrictions and warning labels on bacon and other processed meats cured with nitrates after linking consumption to more than 50,000 cases of colon cancer.

Top health experts and scientists have written to Wes Streeting, the UK health secretary, urging that bacon and other processed meat products that contain nitrates carry warnings similar to those on cigarettes — or be phased out entirely. The letter comes ten years after the World Health Organization declared that processed meat was a carcinogen.

“Nitrates in cured meats promote the formation of nitrosomes, compounds with clear carcinogenic potential,” the letter, as released by the Coalition Against Nitratessays.

The team urges “a long-term plan to phase out nitrite use in processed meats” — and in the meantime, “Mandate clear front-of-pack warnings on nitrite-cured products that communicate cancer risk to consumers and parents.”

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Nitrates give cured meats “their pink color and savory flavor,” the National Institute of Health says — but “ingesting too much nitrite can induce methemoglobinemia (a blood disorder) in children and raise the risk of developing colorectal cancer in adults.”

“Consumers deserve clear information. Most people don’t realise that the WHO classifies nitrite-cured meats like bacon and ham in the same carcinogenic category as tobacco and asbestos,” Denis Corpet, an emeritus professor of food safety and nutrition at Toulouse University said, per The Guardianwhich reports that processed meat has been linked to 54,000 cases of colon cancer in the UK.

Stateside, experts mirror their UK counterparts’ views on bacon and other processed meats; As the American Institute for Cancer Research says, “eat little, if any, processed meat.” And as for red meat, “eating more than 18 oz. of red meat weekly can increase your cancer risk. If you eat red meat, limit the consumption to no more than 3 portions a week or about 12-18 ounces (cooked).”