Kill or cure: industry lobby saves bacon

Suppliers of cured ham, bacon and other traditional meat products have won a reprieve from Europe over the use of nitrates and nitrites in curing.

Under the original terms of the European Commission's Directive 95/2 on miscellaneous additives, levels of added nitrates and nitrites, which have been associated with increased risk of cancer, were to be dramatically reduced.

But, after intense lobbying from the industry and the UK's Food Standards Agency, a derogation has been secured excluding dry cured and immersion cured bacon and ham, tongue, jellied eels and brisket from the directive. There will, however, continue to be restrictions based on maximum residual levels of nitrates and nitrites in foods as sold.

The British Meat Processors Association's deputy director Maurice McCartney said: "This is great news. If the directive had gone through without these derogations, it could have effectively killed off large sections of the regional and speciality food industry. We were fully expecting some plants to close."

The amendment, which has just been approved by the European Parliament, should be adopted by the Council of Ministers in February, published in March and implemented about 18 months later, he said. "It is going to involve changes in lots of mainstream products which use nitrites and nitrates as preservatives and as colours and flavours, but it's manageable over a period of time."