Carcinogenic meat served on most school menus

Many kids in England returned to school this month after a hot summer of beach swims and BBQs. But those hoping their young ones would be served up the healthiest of hot dinners as the weather turns cooler are in for a shock, according to research published by the Coalition Against Nitrites.

“Our Freedom of Information survey of 173 local authorities found that 68 per cent of councils are serving nitrite-cured meats such as bacon and ham in schools,” the coalition of scientists and food safety experts wrote. “Only 16 per cent of local authorities had stopped the practice, with the remainder unable to provide clear information on school-meal menus.”

Nitrites are commonly added to processed meats like bacon and ham to preserve their colour, flavour, and shelf life. However, they have also been strongly linked to cancer – 10 years ago the World Health Organisation classified processed meat as ‘Group 1, carcinogenic to humans’. 

“We know schools are under great pressure on many fronts, but it is really not acceptable that many are putting the health and wellbeing of children at risk by serving nitrite-cured meats,” explained professor Chris Elliott, founder of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast. “It is the antithesis of what schools want to achieve [and] we have safe alternatives to nitrites that are now becoming more widely available in supermarkets,” he added.

No more nitrites

Professor Elliott is the face of the coalition which, when formed earlier this year, called on the UK Government to ban nitrites. Currently, they are permitted as a processing aid so long as the levels are below certain thresholds. UK limits remain higher than those in the EU, though, with meat companies having to cut permissible levels pretty much in half by next month.

“What’s happening in Europe is a really positive step and a stepping stone to a total ban,” professor Elliott told Wicked Leeks. “France, which is a country of meat eaters, has been very supportive and pushed the EU on this,” he added.

Some major manufacturers have also begun to make moves – Nestlé is among the ones looking at all its meat products and taking out nitrites and nitrates. Marks and Spencer and Waitrose also sell nitrite-free bacon. In fact, nitrite-free bacon has been available in British supermarkets since 2017, thanks to food company Finnebrogue and its ‘Naked’ brand. 

“To have a bacon produced naturally, that doesn’t require such chemicals to be added or formed during processing, is a very welcome development,” said professor Elliott at the time. Finnebrogue used a combination of innovation and natural fruit and spice extracts to come up with a bacon that is made without the need for added nitrites. 

There are costs to nitrite-free, though, which has put the brakes on this substitution at scale. “We are not really trying to engage with the meat industry,” Elliott told Wicked Leeks. “They know they can do it but they also know the costs.” Indeed, the curing agents cost more, and meat processors would also need to invest in equipment and new processes.

As well as using economics as an excuse, the industry also points to food safety, and how nitrites help limit the growth of bacteria that cause the life-threatening illness botulism. This however has been poo-pooed by research commissioned by the meat industry, and reported by The Observer in 2019. Professor Elliott agrees. He said the scientific literature he looked at was “so woolly”; it was like this advice had been “passed from generation to generation like folklore”, he added.

However, the industry can hide behind the FSA’s current stance, which was explained in a recent article by foodservicefootprint.com:

‘A bigger bone of contention is whether they [nitrites] are needed in the first place. The FSA continues to view nitrites as important preservatives. James Cooper, deputy director of food policy at the FSA, says there is “strong scientific evidence that they hinder the growth of harmful organisms, in particular the bacteria responsible for botulism which can be life-threatening”. Cooper adds: “They are one of the ways manufacturers can choose to protect against growth of these harmful organisms. Other methods include using salt, other food additives or a shorter use-by date, or a combination of factors, depending on the product.”’

The coalition maintains that with new technologies now available to produce processed meats without nitrites – while maintaining the same taste, appearance, and cost – there is “no justification for their continued use”. 

As the coalition continues on its website: “There is a growing consensus of scientific opinion that nitrites in processed meats react with secondary amines to produce carcinogenic nitrosamines in the stomach when the meat is cooked and ingested. A wealth of evidence from the World Health Organisation, UK, US and European universities, as well as government agencies, has directly linked the consumption of processed meat to colorectal cancer.”

Other supermarkets and most fast food chains seem to be keeping their heads down for now, according to Elliott – which is why he and his team are targeting regulators like the FSA in a bid to change the rules. A total ban is what they are after but a lowering of the limits in line with the EU would be a decent start.

“The research on schools got us a lot of attention,” Elliott said, adding that there is more to come very soon – and this time in relation to hospital food. He and his team are also working “more quietly” with artisan producers and hopes to have news of a commitment from one the better-known producers by the end of the year. Perhaps just in time for those pigs in blankets.

Follow the Coalition Against Nitrites’ campaign and get involved here.