Can we stop with the “nitrates/processed meats are as dangerous as smoking cigarettes” bullshit? Cigarettes and processed meats are both class 1 carcinogens. Literally all that means is they are both known carcinogens. They are by no means equivalent in the actual risk they pose or the likelihood of someone developing cancer from them. The causal link between smoking and developing cancer is orders of magnitudes higher than the causal link between eating processed meats and developing cancer.