Nitrates and nitrites: the government launches an action plan to reduce its presence in food products

Although the ANSES report remembers this 99% of the French population does not exceed the daily doses consumption of nitrates and nitrites recommended, the government seems to want it sin out of prudence. To cope with these new scientific discoveries, the latter announces that it intends to follow the recommendations of the National Food Safety Agency, which recommends reducing (as strictly necessary) or eliminating the use of nitro additives in all food products. The whole, without compromising health safety of these different foods.

Remember that in France, the maximum incorporation rates that’s 150 milligrams per kilogram. And that the country already has “Cured meats sectors already below these thresholds with a maximum of 120 mg per kilo”, according to the press release available on solidarities-santé-gouv.fr.

Government actions

So far, the government has announced a first meeting bringing together the technical actors of the sectors by the end of July 2022. Then, in the autumn, an action plan resulting from this work will be presented to Parliament.

The government is also committed to integrating this approach with a action in favor of research in order to continue to improve scientific knowledge on “the toxicological risks represented by exposure to nitrites / nitrates in line with the recommendations of the ANSES opinion”.

What to do while waiting?

Today, many brands sell certified nitrite-free cured meats. Unfortunately the latter is often immersed in a vegetable broth (beetroot, celery, chard, carrot) which turns into nitrites during cooking. It is therefore not a reliable solution to completely avoid these additives. Butchers, on the other hand, have started selling nitrite-free cured meats, in particular cooked ham, which is easily recognized by its greyish color, which turns from synthetic pink. On the other hand, a nitrite-free meat is a meat which is less well preserved. It will therefore be necessary consume it within 24 hours of purchase the risk of the latter developing pathogenic bacteria.

Other products such as cured hams compensate for the absence of nitrites with large amounts of salt as a preservative.

We therefore hope that the government will soon return to us to offer us real measurementswhich can allow all of us to avoid excessive intakes of nitrates and nitrites …

An Image Credit: @JL Fizzell via Pexels.