Sunday, 14 February 2021

Bringing 'Home' the Bacon?

The current imperative the UK has placed on itself to sign a trade deal with the US, has the downside of now attracting pressure by American producers to include their cheap ham and bacon in the deal (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/14/uk-us-brexit-trade-deal-could-fill-supermarkets-with-cancer-risk-bacon). In the US, these pork products are cured with nitrites. Nitrites are, however, banned by the EU and currently the UK, as these chemicals have been linked to bowel cancer. The American meat marketers are allowed to misleadingly describe their products as 'all natural', because the nitrites are obtained from vegetable sources. Although it sounds benign, this label could also be accurately affixed to botulin, snake venom and Deadly nightshade! So, it may not just be chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef that we have to look forward to.
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