Politico Europe: European Commission under pressure to go further and faster on nitrite limits

🚨 Ten years of lost opportunities — and a chance for Europe to lead again

This weekend marks ten years since the World Health Organisation classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen — placing nitrite-cured products like bacon and ham in the same category as tobacco and asbestos.

In that decade, science has only grown stronger. Studies from Queen's University Belfast, Seoul National University and others have confirmed what we already knew: nitrite-cured meats form carcinogenic nitrosamines that increase the risk of cancer. The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) has confirmed a link between consuming nitrites and nitrates found in processed meats and an increased risk of colorectal cancer.

Yet progress has been painfully slow.

That is why today, the Coalition Against Nitrites — with leading food scientists, including four of the original authors of the 2015 WHO/IARC report — has written to the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety calling for urgent further action. It is reported in POLITICO Europe's Agrifood newsletter this morning.

We welcome the European Union’s new limits on nitrites, which came into force this month — a vital, evidence-based step that will reduce risk and save lives. But this must only be the beginning.

👉 The science is clear.
👉 Safer curing methods already exist.
👉 Public support for stronger action is overwhelming.

We urge EU Health and Food Safety to set a clear timetable to phase out nitrites altogether, support small producers in transitioning to safer alternatives and ensure that European consumers are protected from a risk that is both avoidable and unnecessary.

Europe has often led the world in food safety — from animal welfare to pesticide regulation. It can, and should, do the same again on nitrites.