Social media is sizzling with strong opinions on a World Health Organisation (WHO) report that finds eating processed meat can cause cancer.
The bacon lovers and vegetarians are shouting the loudest on social media networks.
The food, bacon, has its own Facebook page with over six million fans, while the vegetarian community on Facebook has just over 700 000 members.
The report, released this week, states: "Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans, based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer."
Prettyingreens tweeted: "All this uproar about bacon causing cancer ? vegans have been saying this for years."
Janet Riley, a PR professional at the American Meat Institute, tweeted: "The finding is a dramatic, alarmist overreach. Meat's proven nutrition benefits outweigh theoretical hazard."
Other groups and pages on Facebook include Bacon with half a million followers, the United Church of Bacon (atheists who try to expose how wrong it is for society to give special legal privileges to religions, by protesting for the same rights for bacon), Bacon Addicts, Baconeers, and Bacon Memes.
On Twitter, All Bacon has over 35 000 followers and Baconator has 45 000.
Other processed meats, hot dogs and sausage, also have their own fan pages, but only 450 000 and 33 000 likes, respectively.
Iron Spike tweeted about how traditional media interpreted the report: "WHO: eating cured meat daily increases your risk of colorectal cancer from 4.5 percent to 5.3 percent.' MEDIA: AAH BACON CAUSES CANCER."
Chris Boo-bard ?weighed in on the conversation with: "It's not like WHO banned bacon, they just told you that it can give you cancer. People are dumb."
Kiralc commented on Twitter: "If you're eating enough bacon to give you cancer, I feel like cancer is the least of your worries."
Colm Tobin spread some light on the matter: "Look on the bright side. If bacon really does cause cancer, soon we'll all get to enjoy the glory of designated Bacon Areas outside pubs."
Therealelp caught his own hypocrisy in the act: "Just caught myself reading an article about bacon causing cancer while smoking a cigarette and thinking: 'THAT'S IT NO MORE BACON.' eh."
Shortly after the WHO announced red meat may lead to cancer, a report by Clear Food Labs was released, saying 10% of vegetarian hot dogs contained meat and two-thirds contained traces of human DNA.
Meat lovers used this report as ammunition to fight against vegetarians, saying: "I might get cancer but at least I'm not a cannibal."
The report did not say actual human body parts were in the vegetarian hot dogs, but had more to do with bad hygiene standards in the factories that made them.
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