A coalition of scientists has written to the new health secretary James Murray calling for action to tackle the cancer risks of nitrites in bacon.
The Coalition Against Nitrates has urged Murray, who replaced Wes Streeting last week, and environment secretary Emma Reynolds to include the risk of the food additives in the government’s food strategy.
The coalition has spent months pushing for the FSA and ministers to take action on nitrites, having accused health watchdogs of ignoring a long list of evidence, including a WHO report published more than 10 years ago linking the ingredients in processed meat to deaths from cancer.
Earlier this year The Grocer revealed sales of nitrite-cured bacon had plunged by £18.7m in the 12 weeks to the end of January, as figures showed shoppers shying away from products containing controversial nitrite additives.
However, the coalition said despite the figures and moves by supermarkets in response to public concern, such as Waitrose’s recent launch of a new ‘Made Without Nitrites’ ham range, the government had remained “silent”.
“We write as scientists with long-standing expertise in food safety, nutrition and cancer epidemiology, and as supporters of the Coalition Against Nitrites, to urge that the health implications of food additives, with additive nitrites in cured meats as the principal case, be properly considered within the government’s food strategy and its wider health policy,” the letter said.
“The Good Food Cycle, with its 10 priority outcomes, sets a welcome direction for the food system. As currently framed, however, it is silent on the role of additives.
“This is a significant omission. Additives are the most pervasive class of intentionally introduced chemicals in the modern diet, and the evidence of their effect on long-term health is now substantial enough to belong inside the strategy rather than outside it.”
The coalition has called for a meeting with the government to brief officials on the latest science.
The FSA – whose evidence review in October last year cleared nitrites of being responsible for a cancer risk – has urged consumers to limit consumption of processed meat more generally.
The scientists added: “We have read the FSA’s Rapid Evidence Assessment, published on 1 October 2025, with care. Its conclusion that the human evidence remains ‘inconclusive’ is, with respect, a function of the evidentiary threshold it has applied rather than of the underlying science.
“The food strategy is the right vehicle, and this is the right moment, to reflect this evidence base. We urge that additives (with nitrites as the worked example) be brought within the strategy’s scope and addressed across both departments’ policy agendas.”
No comments yet