Mariano Rajoy supports his candidates for Madrid during an electoral campaign event (Photo : Getty Images)
For the second consecutive day, the hashtags #FreeBacon, #Bacongeddon and #JeSuisBacon trended globally in Twitter after the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report that links processed meats with colorectal cancer.
Majority of the tweets did not believe the study made by WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that also warned of high risk of pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer for eating red meat. The report, based on review of 800 studies by 22 health experts in early October, identified processed meats such as bacon, hot dogs and sausages as the cause of bowel cancer, reports Reuters.
On Monday, the negative tweets outnumbered the positive ones 7 to 1 which was slightly lowered to 6.5 to 1 on Tuesday. It was based on an analysis tool that monitors and compiles positive, negative and neutral tweets that used the hashtags #bacon and #cancer.
One of those who shared their sentiment about the WHO report was fashion designer Kenneth Cole who tweeted on Tuesday, "Sugar is bad for you, Carbs are bad for you, and now so is #Bacon, but don't worry about it, because that's bad for you too."
In response to the WHO finding, Michelle Ray points out that the oldest person alive eats bacon every day. She tweeted, "Shut up, internet."
Filipino columnist Teddy Locsin Jr. wants to know the frequency and volume of consumption for bacon and other processed meats to be considered cancerous.
British daily The Independent says the far-right believes the "bacon/cancer story is a Muslim conspiracy" and cites a tweet that reads, "Eating #Bacon and drinking beer is as British thing to do as anything.. so pardon my French Fuck the #WHO and its sponsors Islam."
Someone who uses the handle @The GoodGodAlone tweeted, "NEW COMMANDMENT. Thou shall stop saying bad things about My Most Holy Creation, Bacon. While it may cause cancer, it doth taste delicious!"
Following the WHO report, California is considering including red meat and processed meat on its cancer-alert list. The state would first examine the WHO findings. If California agrees with WHO, it could trigger lawsuits from consumers with various types of cancers against meat companies and from major meat producers and processors that would suffer from lower consumer demand for its products, reports Reuters.
