Professor Chris Elliott has told the BBC’s Panorama there is a “very strong link” between the consumption of nitrates and nitrites in processed meat and the development of bowel cancer.
In today’s episode of Panorama, Cancer Before 50: Why is it rising?, the food safety expert warned that without action on reducing or eliminating these chemicals, there would “more cases of bowel cancer”, which would impact thousands of people.
He criticised the study from the FSA last year that found there was “no evidence” removing nitrates from processed meat reduces the risk of cancer, despite claims from leading professors that the ingredients should be deemed as deadly as cigarettes.
Elliott said: “Things just didn’t add up.”
“I saw key pieces of evidence that I knew about, they weren’t even mentioned in the report,” he added. “They had excluded every animal study on the subject of the link between nitrates and cancer. How can you do an evidence review and leave out most of the valuable information?”
The scientist said there was a “clear pathway” in Europe to reduce the presence of the chemicals but the UK had done “completely the opposite”.
The FSA says nitrates and nitrites in meat are tightly regulated and that “health risks apply to processed meats overall”.
Despite this the industry has been increasing the availability of nitrite-free lines with several retailers expanding or launching nitrite-free lines in the last month.
Last week Waitrose was the first retailer to launch Made Without Nitrites Gammon Joint and Lardons building on its range of hams and bacons.
The Panorama documentary also considered other factors driving up the cases of cancer in under-50s, including hormonal issues, a lack of fibre and an increase in processed food in our diets and pollution.
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