Eating "cured meats without nitrites and nitrates" is the new imperative of conscious and responsible consumers. The phenomenon which established itself in France and from there spread throughout the rest of Europe was born following a national awareness campaign on the famous "potentially carcinogenic" preservatives used in the sausage industry. The effect is that for some time now more and more industries and artisans have been aligning themselves to produce “nitrite and nitrate free” cured meats. The European Food Safety Authority also intervened to reassure the most aggressive consumers, minimizing the issue. In the meantime, however, thanks to the international success of Guillaume Coudray's book "Who Poisoned Your Bacon Sandwich?: The Dangerous History of Meat Additives", consumers throughout Europe are more careful about eating nitrite-free sausages.
In Italy, the dedicated lines are multiplying: to historic "nitrite and nitrate free" products such as the long-aged DOP hams, Prosciutto di Parma and San Daniele, and some excellent Coop branded products such as Origine aged raw ham, aged raw ham, Fior culatello Fiore, and Culatta Fior Fiore have been added Naturals di Rovagnati, which includes raw and cooked ham, mortadella and salami; Naturissimo di Fiorucci with cooked ham.
In his book Coudray specifies that these production methods are also extended to the United Kingdom and Denmark where: “A handful of industrial producers produce bacon and ham without using nitro-additives. Even in Germany and Holland, organic producers avoid all additives. In Italy the best products (Parma and San Daniele hams) are made without nitrates and nitrites. Likewise in Spain, premium quality meat products (authentic chorizo and lomo, most of the authentic bellota hams) are not treated with nitro-additives”. The author then cites the virtuous examples of France and Belgium where “artisanal and industrial meat processors compete to bring nitrate- and nitrite-free products to the market.
Some of them target purely regional markets, others already distribute on a national scale, such as the Biocoop group which, in autumn 2017, launched an excellent ham without nitro-additives produced in Brittany. It is a ham that does not betray: it has its true colour. The distributor is quite happy to justify this on its packaging. Pale ham, is that normal? Yes, if nitrate salt is not added, the ham retains its natural colour, i.e. grey!”. Coudray: "'Virtuous' meats can be successful but investments are needed"
“This – concludes Coudray – demonstrates that the sector can change, that 'virtuous' protected meats can be successful”. The problem is that “processing meat without the use of nitro-additives requires more time and more attention. The adaptation of the equipment is not cheap: it is necessary to change the machines, renew the refrigeration units, review the production processes. A complete review".
The data produced by the WHO certainly contributed to accelerating the phenomenon, ascertaining "almost 4 cases of colon cancer and 500 of the stomach attributable to the consumption of cured meats in France alone". Numbers confirmed by a study by the University of Oxford according to which a daily portion of 25 grams of processed meat, equivalent to three slices, leads to a 19% increase in the risk of colorectal cancer.
Hence a consumer protest, which started in France in recent years, which led to the opening of a commission of inquiry in the country and the international success of the book by the director and producer of investigative documentaries Guillaume Coudray, who studies from years the meat processing processes, “Cochonneries – comment la charcuterie est devenue un poison” (Junk food – how cured meats have become poison). The volume is republished - with updated data - in 2021 with the title "Who Poisoned Your Bacon Sandwich?: The Dangerous History of Meat Additives" .
Reassuring minds are the European Food Safety Authority, based in Parma, which in June 2017 reassessed the safety levels of nitrites and nitrates added to food, explaining: "The group of experts applied conservative hypotheses in the its assessment, i.e. considered worst-case scenarios […] based on these assumptions, has come to the conclusion that nitrosamines which are formed in the body from nitrites added in meat products at permissible levels are of low concern for human health ”.
Faced with this scenario, the French Parliamentary Commission, in the document drawn up in January 2021, identifies some proposals. Among all the request to ban, starting from 1 January 2023, the use of nitrate-based additives for non-heat-treated meat products and from 1 January 2025 for all delicatessen products.
To support the transition of industries in the sector, the Commission is also proposing to create a public fund to help processors adapt their production tools, in particular artisans, very small enterprises (VSE) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) . More information for consumers When selling products, the insertion of a declaration on the labels of gastronomy products is required "which clearly indicates, if any, that nitrate additives have been used in their manufacture and that the use of such additives is associated with a colorectal cancer promoting effect”. Not only that, to have an informed public opinion the request is to "establish a health warning message in the advertisements of delicatessen products manufactured with the addition of nitrate additives".
