re: #296 Wendell Zurkowitz (slave to the waffle light)

Smoked and salted foods were the sort of things that people used to eat in small amounts and for special occasions, not in large amounts on a daily basis.

Not really. Smoked and salted foods were major preservation techniques that are no longer necessary; the fact that they taste good is why we are still using these techniques. Many important flavoring sauces were derived from the salting techniques, e.g, fish sauce. Soy sauce is basically brewed salt with soy added as a contrast (ok, (only) slight, exaggeration).

Cancer is a disease of age, yes, there are outliers, but. It may be exacerbated, to an extent, by these techniques but there are many food safety aspects that fit in with standard food preservation methods.