California is examining new World Health Organisation findings to determine whether to add red meat and foods like hot dogs, sausages and bacon to a cancer-alert update, setting the stage for a potential battle with the meat industry over warning labels.

Including meat and processed food on the list could reduce consumer demand, hurting major producers and processors like Hormel Foods Corp and JBS USA. It could also open the door wider for litigation against meat companies from consumers diagnosed with certain types of cancer.

California has often been at the forefront of consumer-oriented initiatives, particularly regarding agriculture. It rolled out laws for larger chicken cages and restrictions on antibiotic use for livestock ahead of much of the rest of the country.

Now the meat industry is focused on what the State will do after a unit of the WHO said processed meat can cause colorectal cancer in humans. It said the risk of developing cancer is small, but increases with the amount of meat consumed. The meat industry maintains that its products are safe to eat as part of a balanced diet.

California’s Proposition 65, an initiative approved in 1986, requires that the State keep a list of all chemicals and substances known to increase cancer risks. Producers of such products are required to provide “clear and reasonable” warnings for consumers.

Some Proposition 65 experts expect California to add processed meats to the list. Typically, once an item is added, it is up to the maker to prove that its product is not dangerous enough to warrant a warning label, experts say.

Starbucks Corp is embroiled in a lawsuit filed by a non-profit group in California over whether its coffee contains enough of the carcinogen acrylamide to pose a cancer risk, and should be labelled accordingly under Proposition 65.

The meat industry is adamant it will escape having to put warning labels on packages of bacon or hot dogs. It says a 2009 California appellate court ruling confirmed federal authority over labels for meat from plants inspected by the US Department of Agriculture.