(CNN) The World Health Organisation (WHO) released a report Monday which placed processed meats, including bacon and sausages, in the same category as smoking and asbestos for causing cancer.

The report revealed that as little as two slices of bacon can increase the risk of colorectal (bowel) cancer by 18%.

If the meat eaters among us choked on their sausages as they read the report over breakfast, the vegetarian reaction -- at least on Twitter -- was a little more smug

Vegetarians rejoice

Feeling a bit more self-righteous than usual today .... #smugvegetarian https://t.co/tSHqRBLR6F — Erin (@EB_McErlean) October 26, 2015

I haven't been this smug to be a vegetarian since lasagne turned out to be full of horse. #cancerbacon — Jo Marie O'Reilly (@JoMarieOReilly) October 26, 2015

Bad news about #bacon bet there's a fair few #SmugVegetarian people out there celebrating with an 'told ya so' dance pic.twitter.com/0RFQwTjOcJ — Popcorn (@PopcornOutdoor) October 26, 2015

Meat Free Monday making people here irate. HAHAHA! Fear your vegetarian overlords! — Dan E. Smith (@LeFelixBrown) October 26, 2015

Very funny seeing meat eaters getting upset and angry because eating red meat may cause cancer & heart problems. — EarthAD (@EarthAD) March 13, 2012

how are so many sources of information just now catching on to the fact that eating a lot of meat increases your risk of cancer by a lot — Robyn (@lilmsragerr) October 26, 2015

Sure, red meat is a major cancer risk, but where else are you going to find a protein source that expensive and environmentally catastrophic — Dr. Gregory Horse (@leducviolet) October 26, 2015

Meat eaters despair

Roughly 34,000 cancer deaths per year have been attributed by the WHO report to diets too high in processed meats. Heartbroken meat eaters were understandably annoyed.

I'm really upset about the bacon and red meat situation causing cancer... Noooo 😩😭 — Becky (@rebeccalovering) October 26, 2015

I stopped smoking. I even stopped drinking. But you're going to have to take my beef, my bacon, and my hamburgers out of my cold dead hands. — Stefan Constantine (@WhatTheBit) October 26, 2015

Though processed meat is now in the same category as cigarettes and alcohol for causing cancer, WHO experts claim it does not mean that they are equally dangerous.

"For an individual, the risk of developing colorectal (bowel) cancer because of their consumption of processed meat remains small, but this risk increases with the amount of meat consumed," Dr Kurt Straif from the WHO said in a statement.

Defiance amid the sadness

In spite of the report by the WHO, some meat lovers were still able to keep their chins up.

Devastating that scientists say bacon causes cancer and we face the fact that we'll have to give up science. — paul bassett davies (@thewritertype) October 26, 2015

Bacon causes cancer? Well I'm going to try to eat it all so no one else has to suffer. Not all heroes wear capes. — Ol' QWERTY Bastard (@TheDiLLon1) October 26, 2015

If I have to eat my bacon fifteen feet in front of the building, standing in the cold, so be it. — Ari Paparo (@aripap) October 26, 2015

In your face, World Health Organisation. The bacon I bought this morning said it was cured. — Sean Draculeahy (@thepunningman) October 26, 2015

Look on the bright side. If bacon really does cause cancer soon we'll all get to enjoy the glory of designated Bacon Areas outside pubs. — Colm Tobin (@colmtobin) October 26, 2015

And it is misleading, since the overall risk is so low to start with. The wholoe thing is bologna. https://t.co/rrbuHpuuKv — Jeff Stier (@JeffaStier) October 26, 2015

Unfortunately for vegetarians, the WHO's findings came not long after a report by Clear Food revealed that 10% of vegetarian hot dogs contain meat -- and that two-thirds of vegetarian samples contain human DNA.