Sausage and Cancer: 5 Other Cancer-Causing Foods

A new study concluded that eating a single serving of processed meats such as sausage increases your risk for cancer by a small amount.

People who eat 4 ounces of processed meat per day - about four pieces of bacon or a link of sausage - have a 19 percent increase in pancreatic cancer, Swedish researchers found.

Right now, your lifetime risk of getting pancreatic cancer is 1.4 percent, Richard Besser, ABC News senior health and medical editor, was quoted in ABC News. If you have a serving of processed meat per day, your risk would go up to 1.7 percent; still very small.

Sausage isn't the only food researchers have found to increase cancer risk. Below are five other cancer-causing foods beyond sausage to avoid overindulging:

1. Trans Fats

Beware! These super-hydrogenated oils don't occur in nature and manufacturers typically use them to stabilize food products. Yet when your body absorbs this manufactured substance, trans fats replace regular fats but don't do the same job because trans fats are so rigid and twisted up. The fat has been linked to all sorts of cancers from breast to colon cancer. Your body needs fats to survive - trans fats, it can do without.

2. Acrylamides

Sounds like nothing you'd eat, but if you eat fried foods, you're likely eating this substance linked to cancer in rats, at least. Starchy foods such as potatoes form this chemical when cooked at high heat. Best to skip the fried foods.

3. Red Meat

Not only processed meat such as sausage, but eating red meats is linked to cancer risk according to researchers. For example, scientists found eating an extra 100 grams of red meat per day increased the risk of bowel cancer by 17 percent. Another study found that meat consumption increased prostate cancer by 12 percent.

4. Sugar

Not only does excess sugar cause diabetes and obesity, but researchers found that high levels of fructose found in many foods increases cancer risk by 35 percent. Sugary soda drinks can be one culprit that not only contains massive amounts of sugar, but chemicals such as artificial sweeteners also linked to cancer. Cutting back on sugary snacks may not only be good for your waistline, but your longer term health.

5. Alcohol

The more alcohol you drink, the more likely you will get cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. While not exactly a food, alcohol remains a significant risk factor for cancer, according to researchers.