Bringing Home the Bacon

Nitrates are used to give processed meats, like bacon and ham, colour and taste. For many years, however, it has been suspected that these additives increase human cancer risk (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11578893/Government-urged-ban-additives-used-processed-meat-research-highlights-cancer-risk.html). A new study, fed mice with nitrates. It confirmed that these animals also had an increased risk of developing cancer. The scientist concerned is adding his voice to a call for the UK government to ban nitrates from processed meats. These nitrates are not essential additions as processed meats can be made tasty without them. Calls for just such a ban have now been going on for several years. It's rare to find known carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) being legal in the human diet. What happened to the precautionary principle?