Lunch meat
Lunch meats—also known as cold cuts, luncheon meats, sandwich meats, cooked meats, sliced meats, cold meats, smallgoods and deli meats—are precooked or cured meat, often sausages or meat loaves, that are sliced and served cold or hot on sandwiches or on party trays. They can be bought pre-sliced in vacuum packs at a supermarket or grocery store, or they can be purchased at a delicatessen or deli counter, where they might be sliced to order.
Health
The World Cancer Research Fund International guidelines on cancer prevention state avoiding all processed meats. Lunch or processed meat is a powerful multi-organ carcinogen contributing to cancer growth.
Most pre-sliced lunch meats are higher in fat, nitrates, and sodium than those that are sliced to order, as a larger exposed surface requires stronger preservatives. As a result, processed meats significantly contribute to incidence of heart disease and diabetes, even more so than red meat.
A prospective study following 448,568 people across Europe showed a positive association between processed meat consumption and mortality, due to cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Similarly, a prospective study in United States following half a million people concluded a similar association with death and increased processed meat consumption.
