There may be a ban on artificial flavoring of smoke. This can be a problem for some smoked sausages. Sometimes flavorings are added to sausages to make them taste like smoke. Research now shows that these scents contain dangerous substances.
An earlier version of this article stated that Hema smoked sausages were produced with smoke flavours. This turned out to be incorrect information and has therefore been removed.
On Wednesday, a committee within the European Commission will hold a vote on a possible ban on these flavours.
It's not just smoked sausages that will be subject to the ban. The “liquid smoke” aroma is also used in salami, beer sausages, barbecue sauce, pulled pork, and smoked almonds.
Poisonous gases
The potential ban relates to the method of making the smoke flavour. The wood is burned and the smoke released is captured and converted into a liquid substance. “If you remove all the toxins, all you have left is water,” says food technologist I. Gisbrand Vilsbauer.
In other words: to maintain the taste some toxic substances remain. These substances are also found, for example, in the black bits that appear on meat if you fry it too vigorously on the grill.
“There's a lot of waste there,” Felzbauer continues. This is precisely the conclusion reached by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). These toxic substances are genotoxic, which means they can damage your DNA and can lead to cancer, genetic disorders and infertility, for example.
Ten years ago, the European Commission was asked for permission to allow the use of smoke flavorings in food. “It's already been said: pay close attention to the amount you consume,” says nutritionist Allie de Boer from Maastricht University. A ten-year permit was then issued, but may not be extended now. The ban will go into effect on July 1.
Transitional period
Unilever said in its response that it expects a transition period if the ban is indeed imposed. This period must be long enough “to either develop alternative smoke flavors or come up with other solutions to maintain the current taste.”
In fact, smoking hot dogs is not at the top of the list of alternatives. “Traditional smoking would preferably not be the direction Yonex wants to take, as smoking with firewood can have unwanted environmental and health impacts,” the spokesperson says.
Never smoke hot dogs again?
People who regularly consume smoked sausages do not need to panic immediately. The risk of disease from smoke flavors is minimal, since you as a consumer are only ingesting very small amounts.
This also applies to “regular” smoking of food, which is traditionally done to extend the shelf life of the food: “Often the amount of toxic substances is relatively small, so it is not very harmful right away. But it is better to avoid it,” says de Boer. He added: “I wouldn't be too concerned right away, but it's a good step to be looked at critically again.”
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