Processed meat (ham, bacon, sausage) has been classified by the IARC as a proven cause of colorectal cancer; red meat as a probable cause, supported by multiple large studies and a plausible biological mechanism. The absolute risk per serving is small and is mainly relevant with regularly high consumption. The recommendation is to moderate and vary intake, not to eliminate it entirely.
The link between processed meat and colorectal cancer is not a marketing story: international cancer researchers (IARC) classify ham, bacon and sausage as a proven cause of colorectal cancer, and red meat as a probable cause. Multiple large studies point in the same direction, and there is also a plausible biological mechanism, which makes this more credible than an isolated statistical finding.
In practice, however, the picture is more nuanced than the headlines suggest. The absolute risk per serving is small, and it concerns regularly high intake, not an occasional piece of bacon or a meatball. Processed meat (smoked, cured, preserved) carries a clearer risk than a plain cut of beef. And meat also provides protein, iron and B12, so the logic is to moderate and vary, not to cut it out out of fear.
If you are concerned because you or someone close to you eats a lot of processed meat: the direction is clear enough to act on, but there is no need to lose sleep over it with normal consumption. Anyone who habitually eats ham or sausage every single day has good reason to scale that back, for example by more often choosing fish, legumes or unprocessed meat.
Moderate evidence, 3 source(s); the direction is likely but not firmly proven.