Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to
support the production of nitrate-free bacon and ham in
England.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs () (Con)
My Lords, I declare my farming interests as set out in the
register.
Nitrates are approved additives for use in pork products. The
Government consider that existing levels of nitrates in food
products are sufficiently protective of consumers. We are keen to
support innovation in the food industry. Where individual
companies use authorised alternatives, it is ultimately a
commercial decision. The Government’s position is that any
intervention should be restricted to areas where there are
potential health and safety concerns based on available
evidence.
(Lab)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his Answer, but I ask him:
will the Government consider a review of regulation surrounding
the use of nitrites in food production, following action taken in
the French National Assembly to bring in legislation to minimise
the use of nitrites in cured meats? Given the association of
nitrites with a heightened risk of bowel cancer and that
risk-free alternatives are widely available, would the Minister
support a ban on the use of these chemicals in food production?
When he is next in Northern Ireland, will he visit and tour
factories beside me in Downpatrick that use innovation to produce
nitrite-free food?
(Con)
I think the company to which the noble Baroness refers produces
something called Better Naked, which is a very worthy product and
has a lot of innovative approaches. However, we are following the
evidence on this: while the IARC published a report that said
that processed meats can be carcinogenic in some cases, it does
not make a direct link between the consumption of nitrates and
nitrites in processed meats and colorectal cancer. We must be
very mindful of the fact that these products in meats inhibit the
growth of conditions such as clostridium botulinum, which can of
course be fatal.
(Con)
My Lords, will my noble friend accept that the pig industry is
suffering a crisis that is unprecedented in its history? Will he
join me in regretting the closure of the Vale of Mowbray facility
at Leeming Bar—a 100 year-old facility involved in world-famous
pork pies—with the loss of 171 jobs? What future does he see for
the pig industry in this country going forward?
(Con)
We want a good future for the pig industry, which has struggled
for many years. As a Government we have stepped in where we can:
we introduced more visas for butchers, private storage aid and
the slaughter incentive payment scheme. Over 760 tonnes of
pigmeat was put into the Government’s freezer storage plan, and
this has ended, to the greatest extent, the backlog of pigmeat
that was on farms.
of Hardington Mandeville
(LD)
My Lords, nitrates are found in many foods and can be harmless,
but when used to cure bacon, which is then cooked and ingested,
they can result in cancers. Nitrate-free bacon represents only
about 10% of current sales. We do not need chemicals to produce
delicious bacon. Why are the Government not encouraging other
nitrate-free methods of production? Why would the public choose
something that will harm them over a non-toxic alternative?
(Con)
The public are informed about what is in their food by the
labelling. Any nitrates or nitrites that are in food do appear on
the label, so the public can make an informed choice. But I
repeat what I said to the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, about the
importance of getting a balanced view: there is not a clear
scientific link between colorectal cancers and these additives.
Of course, we must be mindful that these additives protect
consumers from conditions such as clostridium botulinum, which, I
repeat, can be fatal.
(Con)
My Lords, I declare my interests as set out in the register. Is
the Minister aware that the vast majority of large pig producers
in East Anglia set the highest possible standards and have also
done all they possibly can to reduce run-off into watercourses?
Surely, the challenge now is to make sure that smaller producers
also follow these very high standards?
(Con)
My noble friend is absolutely right: we want to see improved
animal welfare standards, productivity and growth across the
agricultural sector. In East Anglia, where the majority of our
larger pork enterprises exist, huge strides have been taken. As
of yesterday, the pork price was about £1.98 per kilo, which is
considerably up on where it was last February, when it was around
£1.37. This is a massive improvement, but many pig producers are
still finding that their costs of production exceed their income.
The Government are doing all we can to make sure that they are a
profitable part of our farming sector.
(CB)
If noble Lords will forgive me, I will take this opportunity to
“do a Lord West”. The noble Lord seems to be able to get ships in
everywhere. Can I get poverty in here? Is the Government going to
bring home the bacon for the neediest among us?
Noble Lords
Oh!
(Con)
The noble Lord is a genius for how he wove that in. He is
absolutely on the same page as the Government, who are doing all
we can to help household income across the board. Compared with
previous decades, food has been a relatively small element of
household expenditure, but it is nevertheless significant and it
has been affected by inflation. But just concentrating on food is
not enough; we need to look at the whole area of household
expenditure, which of course includes energy and other
elements.
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, while we must not cause alarm by overstating any risks
posed by nitrates and nitrites in bacon and other cured meats, we
cannot deny that a growing body of evidence links these chemicals
to various illnesses. Although we may not have an appetite for a
full ban, many other countries are taking clear steps to limit
the use of nitrates and nitrites in pork products. So does the
Minister see any future reputational risks for UK products if
other countries move forward and adopt more stringent measures
and we do not?
(Con)
We work very closely with the European agency that does this. It
is quite wrong for Ministers to make sweeping decisions on this;
it has to be on the basis of evidence. The Food Standards Agency
is the lead on this, and it has given Ministers clear
information. The 2015 IARC report stated that how cancer risk is
increased by processed meat consumption is “not yet fully
understood”. How processed meat is cooked—for example, the
temperature—and some natural components in the meat itself could
be contributing factors. As the noble Baroness said, other foods
naturally have large amounts of nitrates: chard and broccoli are
but two.
