Is there a link to cancer and eating meat?

The World Health Organisations (WHO) says that processed meat  causes cancer

This claim seems to have done the rounds, and this is not new, news, but for those who are still sitting on the fence and are looking for a reason to start their transition into vegetarianism/veganism, looking back at an old feed on the BBC website (which I generally tend to trust) there appears to be substance to this story. It was posted back in October 2015, and as far as I am aware it has not been retracted.

Processed meat is meat that has been modified to either extend its shelf life or change the taste and the main methods are smoking, curing, or adding salt or preservatives.

The report from WHO said 50g of processed meat a day - less than two slices of bacon - increased the chance of developing colorectal cancer by 18%.

Processed meat includes bacon, sausages, hot dogs, salami, corned beef, beef jerky and ham as well as canned meat and meat-based sauces.

Meanwhile, it said red meats were "probably carcinogenic" but there was limited evidence. 

The WHO has come to the conclusion on the advice of its International Agency for Research on Cancer, which assesses the best available scientific evidence.

It placed processed meat in the same category as plutonium, but also alcohol as they are known to cause cancer.

If you are still reading this post, then the chances are that you are already well on the way to at least being a vegetarian, or already are, and I doubt that anything here has changed your mind to the contrary. I certainly will not be eating meat in a hurry, then again, I haven't for over 30 years so this is a pretty safe statement to make.