Not a lot of work has been done to examine whether there is a cardiovascular risk associated with eating processed red meats such as salami, sausage, ham, bacon, and hot dogs. On Wednesday, Polish and Swedish researchers reported new findings that indicate there may, in fact, be concern when it comes to consuming these foods.

Joanna Kaluza and colleagues described the results of their recent analysis of data from the population-based prospective Cohort of Swedish Men (COSM) study, a long-term epidemiological study of over 37,000 men, age 45–79 years at the time of enrollment, when they reported meat consumption on questionnaires. The subjects were followed for just under 12 years, and health outcomes were documented, including heart failure. Results are published in the journal Circulation: Heart Failure.

“Processed red meat commonly contains sodium, nitrates, phosphates and other food additives, and smoked and grilled meats also contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, all of which may contribute to the increased heart failure risk,” senior author Alicja Wolk, D.M.Sc., a professor in the Division of Nutritional Epidemiology at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, said in a statement. “Unprocessed meat is free from food additives and usually has a lower amount of sodium.”

The researchers found that out of 37,035 COSM subjects, 2,891 men were diagnosed with heart failure, and 266 died as a result. Using heart failure as an outcome, the researchers found that those who ate the most processed red meat were 28 percent more likely to be among those that died of heart failure compared to those who ate the least, a risk increase of almost two-fold.

“To reduce your risk of heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, we suggest avoiding processed red meat in your diet, and limiting the amount of unprocessed red meat to one to two servings per week or less,” lead author Joanna Kaluza, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Human Nutrition at Warsaw University of Life Sciences in Poland, said in a statement. “Instead, eat a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, whole grain products, nuts and increase your servings of fish.”