Scientists warn off eating more than 20g per day London - Arabstoday Sausages, burgers and other processed meats may increase the risk of dying young, a study European suggests. It concluded diets high in processed meats were linked to cardiovascular disease, cancer and early deaths. The researchers, writing in the journal BMC Medicine, said salt and chemicals used to preserve the meat may damage health. The study followed people from 10 European countries for nearly 13 years on average. It showed people who ate a lot of processed meat were also more likely to smoke, be obese and have other behaviours known to damage health. Stopping smoking is more important than cutting meat, but I would recommend people reduce their meat intake,” Prof Sabine Rohrmann from the University of Zurich, told the BBC. However, the researchers said even after those risk factors were accounted for, processed meat still damaged health. During the research, one in every 17 people died, with those eating more than 160g of processed meat a day - roughly two sausages and a slice of bacon - were 44% more likely to die over a typical follow-up time of 12.7 years than those eating about 20g. "High meat consumption, especially processed meat, is associated with a less healthy lifestyle. But after adjusting for smoking, obesity and other confounders we think there is a risk of eating processed meat,” said Rohrmann. She has now warned that no one should eat more than 20g of processed meat a day.