Ham and bacon sold by supermarkets including Tesco, and Marks and Spencer still contain cancer-causing chemicals almost 10 years after the World Health Organization warned about the dangers of their use in processed meats.
Wiltshire ham is the product with the highest concentrations of nitrites, according to analysis that compared it to cooked ham and unsmoked bacon.
All of the 21 products tested in a laboratory were found to contain nitrites, which are used to preserve meat, despite the WHO in October 2015 declaring them to be unsafe.
Tesco’s Wiltshire ham contained the most nitrites – almost 33 milligrams per kilogram. That was 11 times the 2.88mg/kg in its cooked ham and almost four times the 8.64mg/kg in its unsmoked bacon. And it was also almost 18 times the 1.84mg/kg found in Morrisons’s bacon.
Other Wiltshire ham products, including those sold by M&S (28.6 mg/kg), Sainsbury’s (21.1mg/kg) and Morrisons (19.2mg/kg) also contained relatively high levels, although Asda’s version only had 8mg/kg.
Food campaigners, who want nitrites banned, said the findings were “alarming”.
Cancer charities said the widespread use of nitrites showed that people should eat as little processed meat as possible, such as ham, bacon and sausages, because consumption increases the risk of bowel cancer. Cancer Research UK estimates that 13% of the 44,100 cases of the disease diagnosed each year in Britain are linked to processed meat.
The analysis was commissioned by the Coalition Against Nitrites and undertaken by Food Science Fusion, an independent company, and the laboratory experts Rejuvetech. However, it found the levels of nitrites in all 21 products were well below the 150mg/kg legal limit.
A spokesperson for the Coalition Against Nitrites, which includes food safety experts, medical specialists and politicians from most of the UK’s major parties, said: “It’s nearly a full decade since the WHO classified nitrite-cured processed meats as a group one carcinogen and it is disappointing and alarming that we continue to see products on sale containing high levels of nitrites.”
They added: “Consumers are increasingly aware of the dangers of nitrites in processed meats, yet they continue to be exposed to their risks.”
Wiltshire ham contains such high levels of nitrites because during the production process the pork is injected with nitrates, as also happens with cooked ham. However, Wiltshire ham is then soaked in a bath of brine and nitrites, to give it its red…
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