Ten things to eat instead of ham and bacon – and why it matters

Whether they're in a BLT, a bacon roll, a pizza or a sandwich, ham and bacon are seen by many of us as everyday foods. Yet these are the same foods that are classed as carcinogens by the World Health Organisation and which  Australia's Dietary Guidelines put in the same category as soft drink, cake and chips – the so called 'discretionary' foods  we're meant to eat sparingly because too many can contribute to chronic disease.

It's this disconnect between our appetite for processed meats like ham and bacon and the evidence that too much can be harmful that the Cancer Council is tackling in its 1 in 3 campaign, highlighting the fact that we can prevent one in three cancers by simple lifestyle changes – including going easy on processed meat.

We have one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world – and one in six cases in Australia has been attributed to eating too much red and processed meat according to a study in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health last year. But messages like these are slow to trickle down to the public – or maybe it's a message we don't want to hear.

"When we surveyed people earlier this year about their understanding of risks contributing to cancer, around 90 per cent of people understood that smoking and sunburn increased the risk but only 50 per cent were aware that processed meat was a risk for bowel cancer," says Wendy Watson, the Nutrition Programs Manager of Cancer Council NSW.

"We have evidence that processed meat is a risk – and it's something that people can act on," she says. "We're not saying you should never eat processed meat – if you enjoy ham at Christmas then eat it but think of it as a food you eat on special occasions like we do with turkey. It's the continuous long-term consumption of processed meat that's the problem."

But if you eat less processed meat, what do you eat instead? Cheese and canned fish like salmon and tuna are easy alternatives to fill a sandwich or add to a salad but there are flavoursome plant-based options too. The place that ham once occupied in my fridge is now filled by plant-based dips like baba ghanoush and jars of rich nut butters – almond and chia is one and cashew, almond and brazil nut is another.

You don't need to go down the 'pretend' bacon and ham road either, says Melbourne-based dietitian Lucy Taylor of Bloom Nutrition.

"There are 'faux' processed meats available but I rarely recommend them because they're not particularly nutritious – they're often made from highly refined vegetable protein and have lots of added oils and fillers such as wheat flour," she says.

Instead Taylor recommends:

To replace ham you need a food that provides the savoury 'umami' flavour as well as protein iron and zinc. Try

Tempeh 'bacon'  – thin slices of tempeh marinated and fried.

And before anyone pokes fun at hummus instead of ham, or marinated tofu for brekkie, let's not forget the smashed avocado on sourdough revolution that's occurred in Australian café breakfasts in recent years.

As Wendy Watson says, reducing our reliance on processed meat is about gradual cultural change – and that change is already happening.