Eating more foods with certain chemicals called nitrites and nitrates might slightly raise your chance of getting cancer later in life, according to a big study that followed people for 12 years.

44

Pro

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

44

Community contributions welcome

44

Endogenous Formation of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) from Dietary Nitrite and Nitrate Intake and Its Association with Cancer Risk.

Cohort Study

Human

2026 Jun

The study looked at how much NDMA people got from certain foods and found that those with the highest exposure had a 4% higher chance of getting cancer, which matches the claim exactly.

Contradicting (0)

0

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No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Endogenous Formation of N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) from Dietary Nitrite and Nitrate Intake and Its Association with Cancer Risk.

Score: 44

DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2026.116032

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