Sausage and bacon 'could be as addictive as heroin'

- Published: 30 March, 2010

Sausages and bacon may be as addictive as heroin or tobacco a new study has claimed, suggesting that fatty snacks can trigger the same "pleasure centres" in the brain that drive people to drug addiction.

The research, carried out by the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida, saw rats fed on bacon, sausages and cheesecake, and the animals soon started to show signs of addiction, according to reports in the Daily Mail.

The scientists behind the study, which saw the animals given electric shocks when tucking into fatty food, claimed it showed that drug addiction and obesity are based on the same "underlying neurobiological mechanisms".

The rats continues to choose bacon and sausages, in spite of getting a shock, the paper reported. When offered healthier food, the rats simply refused to eat.

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