Warning over processed meat as EU health chiefs say preservatives used are cancerous

Health bosses have issued a fresh warning over cancer-causing chemicals found in bacon and beer.

Society’s current level of consumption of nitrosamines ‘raises a health concern’, EU officials warned today.

The chemicals, known to have been carcinogenic for decades, are not intentionally added to food.

Instead, they form due to a chemical reaction from adding food preservatives such as nitrates or nitrites.

Ten different types have already been detected in foods sold across the continent.

Tests have found them in cured meat, processed fish and cocoa, as well as beer.

Other food groups, like processed vegetables, cereals, milk and other dairy products as well as fermented, pickled and spiced foods, could also contain nitrosamines, they said.

Yet The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said the ‘most important food group’ for nitrosamines exposure was meat.

Nitrates or nitrites are used in processed meat to help increase the shelf-life of cold cuts, and give ham its alluringly tangy taste and fresh, pink hue.

Dr Dieter Schrenk, EFSA’s chair of the panel on contaminants in the food chain, said: ‘Our assessment concludes for all age groups across the EU population, the level of exposure to nitrosamines in food raises a health concern.’

EFSA advised people eat a balanced diet with a wide variety of foods to reduce their potential consumption of nitrosamines.

The body will now officially share its opinion with European Commission, which will discuss potential ‘risk management’ measures with member states. 

Such measures could, in theory, include introducing warnings on the packaging of products found to contain one or more of the 10 nitrosamines of concern.

Other potential public health initiatives, which have been touted by experts before, include a specific processed meat tax to dissuade shoppers from buying it. 

Once digested, nitrosamines are broken down by the liver.

From there, they can then damage DNA, leading to mutations that can cause cancer to develop.

This is the ‘most critical health effect’, based on studies in rodents, according to Dr Schrenk.

Studies have also linked the substances to an increased risk of bowel, breast and prostate cancers.

Their use in food preparation has come under increasing investigation ever since the World Health Organization labelled processed meat carcinogenic in 2015.

Any EU ruling on nitrogen based preservatives could bolster calls for the UK to take action, with an estimated 90 per cent of bacon sold in supermarkets containing the substances. 

But some nations in the bloc have already promised action.

French health bosses dealt a blow to their country’s beloved cold meat industry last year after they pledged to cut the use of nitrates and nitrites down to just ‘strictly necessary’ quantities.