𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Campaigners claim more than 50,000 Britons have suffered bowel cancer because governments have failed to heed health warnings about the dangers of using nitrites to preserve processed meats such as bacon and ham. The cost of treating patients since the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) sounded the alarm a decade ago is estimated to be at least £3billion.

The Government is facing demands to put health warnings on meat packaging to highlight the cancer risk. Health Secretary Wes Streeting is being urged to ban nitrites from processed meats. Nitrite-free bacon and ham is available in supermarkets but only makes up 5-10% of the market. Professor Denis Corpet, of Toulouse University, one of the authors of the original report, said ministers are guilty of a “dereliction of duty”.

He said: “For a decade, we have known that nitrite-cured meats cause cancer, yet failed to act. That is not just complacency, it is a dereliction of duty.

“When safer alternatives exist, continuing to expose people to preventable carcinogens is indefensible from any public health perspective.”

Professor Robert Turesky, of the University of Minnesota, who also worked on the landmark report, said: “When the IARC report was published in 2015, evidence linking processed meat to cancer was strong. A decade later, it is even stronger, and many preventable cancers have likely occurred. The evidence now calls for public health action.”

The two scientists have put their names to a letter to the Health Secretary, which states: “Nitrites in cured meats promote the formation of nitrosamines, compounds with clear carcinogenic potential. Despite repeated confirmation from independent studies and sustained public concern, policy responses remain fragmented and inadequate.

“Further delay will consign avoidable cancers to future patients and their families. Scientific evidence and public health ethics demand transparency and action.”

As well as demanding “front-of-pack warnings on nitrite-cured products” to inform consumers of health risks, campaigners want funding for industry to switch to safer curing methods alongside a “long-term plan to phase out nitrite use in processed meats”.

A separate letter to the European Union health and food safety commissioner urges action to phase out nitrites. The campaigners note the EU is now considered “on the brink” of reducing permitted levels of nitrites in processed meats.

They want the UK Government to “set a global standard” and “lead the way in preventing avoidable cancers afflicting future patients and their families”.

Professor Chris Elliott, founder of the Institute of Global Food Security and a former UK Government adviser, said that a decade on from the original report, the UK Government has done virtually nothing to reduce exposure to nitrites, the curing agents that make these products pink and long-lasting but also create nitrosamines, compounds known to trigger cancer”.

He added: “Every year of delay means more preventable cancers, more families affected, and greater strain on the NHS.”

The Food Standards Agency states that “while nitrates and nitrites can form compounds called nitrosamines, many of which are carcinogenic, the link to serious health problems like cancer in humans remains inconclusive”. It says there is “no evidence to suggest that processed meat made without the use of nitrates is a safer alternative”.