It’s time to fact facts- the UK’s food system is broken, and the food industry is to blame. In addition to failures by successive governments over the last 30 years to reduce obesity rates, get a grip on the advertising of healthy foods, and stop food companies from using misleading labels, there is one major failure which has gone unaddressed for too long – the failure to protect the public from the carcinogenic chemicals being added to our everyday foods. 

A clear scientific consensus has developed which shows that nitrites, chemicals which food companies add to processed meats such as bacon and ham to enhance their flavour, colour and shelf life, cause cancer. Globally, around 34,000 cases of colorectal cancer could be prevented each year if these chemicals were phased out of our food chain. Europe has already started doing this, but the UK is falling behind.  

With more than 7 million people currently waiting for NHS treatment and cancer care targets continuing to be missed across the board, the UK desperately needs relief from avoidable external factors like nitrites. And given new technologies are now available to produce cured meat products without nitrites, turning a blind eye to this issue is simply not an option – especially at a time when our NHS is facing severe challenges.  

As Chair of the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee, I repeatedly called on the Government to develop a comprehensive, integrated, long-term strategy to fix our food system. Banning nitrites from processed foods in the UK should form a critical part of this. 

So if the Government is truly committed to prioritising cancer patients and relieving the pressure on the NHS, it should follow the good example set by the European Union. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), for example, recently advised that the European Commission revise the maximum levels of nitrites allowed in food, down to a “safe” level of 0.07mg per day, per kg of body weight. Yet despite an overwhelming body of evidence to the contrary, the UK’s Food Standards Agency have maintained that the current levels of nitrites used in food processing are safe. This is just not good enough. 

If the Government are serious about fixing our broken food system and ensuring that everyone has access to food that is nutritious, affordable, and above all, safe to eat, then it is time to implement higher food standards, starting with taking action to remove nitrites from our food. We cannot afford to ignore this issue any longer. 

* Baroness Joan Walmsley is a Liberal Democrat Member of the House of Lords, the former Chair of the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee, and is a supporter of the Coalition Against Nitrites.