The European Commission has adopted a proposal to amend Directive 95/2/EC, dealing with food additives other than colours and sweeteners, in order to reduce the authorised levels of nitrates and nitrites in meat products.

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The amendments also include proposals to withdraw the authorisation for the use of gel-forming food additives as used in “jelly mini-cups”, withdraw the authorisation for the use of a certain paraben (E216 and E217) and authorise the use of four new food additives.


“We continuously update our legislation to take into account the latest scientific knowledge. For example, with our proposal today we are aiming to reduce the use of nitrites and nitrates in meat products while still guaranteeing the safety of these products. To achieve this balance, the Commission consulted the European Food Safety Authority for the latest scientific advice. I believe that this type of review process is vital for consumer confidence,” said David Byrne, Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection.


Nitrates and nitrites are used in meat products such as cured meats or sausages to prevent this type of food from going off during the production process and to avoid microbiological contamination by bacteria like C.botulinum.


However, in meat products, nitrites are transformed into nitrosamines. The aim of the Commission is to keep the level of nitrosamines as low as possible. The proposed amendment will therefore reduce the permitted levels of nitrites and nitrates added to food while still maintaining the microbiological safety of food products.

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The amendment also proposes the use of four new food additives. These new additives are ethyl cellulose, erythritol, 4-hexyl resorcinol and soybean hemicellulose.


The proposal will now go to the Council and to the European Parliament for adoption under the co-decision procedure.