The National Health Safety Agency recommends reducing the exposure of the population to the products used to transform and keep meat.
by
This time, doubt is no longer allowed: nitrites, these controversial additives used in cold meats, represent a danger. In a highly anticipated opinion published Tuesday, July 12, the National Health Safety Agency (ANSES) recognizes for the first time the link between consumption of nitrites and cancer. “The analysis of bibliographic data confirms the existence of an association between the risks of colorectal cancer and exposure to nitrates and nitrites ingested via transformed meat”, writes ANSES in its expertise. The French health agency thus endorses late The conclusions of the International Center for Research on Cancer (Circ). This independent organization attached to the World Health Organization has classified transformed meats into the proven carcinogen category in 2015. According to CIR, their consumption is at least 4,300 cases of colorectal cancer each year in France And suspicions exist for stomach cancer.
ANSES had been seized in June 2020 by the Ministries of Health and Agriculture in order to assess the risks associated with the consumption of nitrites and nitrates. The file is so sensitive that the agency has taken all its time to make its conclusions, initially scheduled for July 2021. The subject has opposed consumer and health protection associations to industrialists for several years, which hammer that the Using nitroat additives is essential to avoid the formation of bacteria.
“Sanitary safety objective”
The nitrite and nitrate salts do not only give its pink color to the ham, they allow to shorten the processes of transformation of cold meats and to extend its conservation durations. These are the famous E249 and E250 (potassium and sodium nitrite) and E251 and E252 (sodium and potassium nitrate) on the packaging of ham or sausage slices sold under vacuum. Now nitrite present in food (and nitrate transformed into nitrite in the body, especially during digestion) can also contribute to the formation of a group of compounds, called nitrosamines, some of which are carcinogenic.
Also, ANSES requires limiting “as much as possible” their use in food. It even makes it “a health security objective”. The agency recommends “reducing the exposure of the population to nitrates and nitrites by proactive measures”, but is content to recall the usual nutritional recommendations: no more than 150 grams of cold meats per week and at least five fruits and vegetables per vegetables per day.
You have 50.3% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.