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Podcast: Law behind the headlines - Will my ham sandwich kill me?

Summary

In our latest episode of 'Law behind the headlines' podcasts, Principal Associate, Richard Burrows, and Partner, Keith Jones, discuss the potential risks posed by the use of nitrites and nitrates in food, what steps are being taken in France to combat the same and the potential for future litigation arising from ingestion of chemicals in food.

 

Transcript

Keith Jones: Hello, and welcome to the latest Law Behind the Headlines podcast. My name is Keith Jones. I'm a Partner in Weightmans' national disease team, and I'm today joined by Richard Burrows, Principal Associate, also in our national disease team. Richard, welcome.

Richard Burrows: Thanks, Keith.

Keith: Richard, today's topic will my ham sandwich kill me? is likely to be quite a concern to a number of people, especially our colleagues who enjoy frequent trips to Greggs on their journeys into the office. Is it really true that ham and bacon were harmful to our health?

Richard: As with all things, Keith, it isn't perhaps a straightforward yes or no answer. And possibly the headlines in the media have captured a somewhat extreme analysis on the research which is available on the subject.

Richard: By way of background. In February 2022, the French parliament passed a Bill to gradually reduce the use of nitrites in cured meats. This is based on evidence to suggest that nitrates are connected with a number of different cancers. Similar research has been carried out in other countries. The World Health Organization, as well as universities in the UK, US and across Europe, have obtained evidence to support a link between nitrite consumption from cured meats and bowel cancer, causing around 10,000 deaths per year.

Keith: Well, that sounds rather serious, doesn't it? 10,000 deaths per year. So what is it about nitrites that makes them so dangerous and how do they cause these cancers?

Richard: Well, by way of a brief science lesson, Keith, and there are both nitrates and nitrates, and both are composed of nitrogen and oxygen in different amounts.

Richard: Nitrates contain more oxygen than nitrogen, and it's vice versa for nitrites. Nitrites are used to cure meats, and they give them that pink and red colour that we're used to seeing in the shops.

Richard: And they're converted in the human body into nitric oxide, which is good and nitrosamines, which are bad.

Richard: Nitrates are therefore not entirely dangerous. And there are some health benefits attached to nitric oxide. For example, nitric oxide is linked with cardiovascular and metabolic regulation and also decreased blood pressure. Some nitrates are naturally occurring in fruit and vegetables.

Richard: Nitrosamines, however, which are the bad parts, are created by the breakdown of nitrites within the body and can be formed from the frying and barbecuing of meats containing the same.

Richard: They are also sourced from cigarette smoking, beer consumption and drinking contaminated drinking water. It's the presence of these nitrosamines within the body that can cause cancers and genetic mutations.

Richard: So the injection of nitrites, there are both positives and negatives and foods high in nitrites include, as we mentioned, ham and bacon, sausages, salamis and those delightful processed hot dogs in tins.

Richard: Nitrates, on the other hand, are naturally found in vegetables. They're similar to nitrates, and they can be added to food to enhance flavour and preserve colour. Leafy vegetables have the highest level of nitrates, as does drinking water.

Richard: But again, similar to nitrites, nitrates have positive and negative effects. They can help to lower the risk of heart failure, heart disease and strokes, as well as offset cognitive decline. They can also improve endurance and sprint type exercises in athletes, but on the other hand, they can cause high blood pressure, colorectal cancer and gastric cancer.

Richard: So the main way in which both nitrates and nitrites cause damage to humans is by their ingestion, by of food and water. So the more foods and drinks that someone ingests, which contain high amounts of nitrites and nitrates, the more risk they are in developing campuses and high blood pressure.

Keith: Well, that's all quite concerning that, isn't it? And it's easy to come across nitrates and nitrites by the sounds of it. I suspect there isn't a supermarket in the whole of the country, which doesn't stock at least one of the food items that you've mentioned that contain the highest amounts of nitrites. And I'm just thinking, if France are looking to restrict the presence of nitrates and nitrites within their foods, shouldn't we be looking to do something similar in the UK?

Richard: Yeah, I agree, Keith. These items are popular, so the nationwide consumption of nitrates and nitrites in the UK is likely to be significant. There are actually government guidelines as to how much red and processed meat someone should consume each day, and that's currently set at 70 grams.

Richard: The difficulty with imposing an outright ban on the use of nitrates and nitrites is this would counter the health benefits of consuming both of these. So it's a case of moderation and the food industry is well aware of the importance of ensuring consumer safety.

Richard: The National Pig Association has confirmed that the amounts of nitrite additives used in the production of British pork products are within the limits approved by the European Food Standards Agency, which is reassuring.

Richard: Food technology has also advanced with time, as well, and this is enabling food manufacturers to create the same flavours and aesthetics for food that they always have had with less ofr the potentially hazardous chemicals that they used to. So, bacon and ham, for example: people are so used to those being pink in colour that there was concern in the market that prohibiting the use of nitrates and nitrites in their entirety would have resulted in a rather unattractive grey bacon, which wouldn't have been very appealing to consumers.

Richard: So going back to your question, there is both guidance and regulations in place to educate people as to the safe limits of ingesting nitrates and nitrites, as well as control the amount of these substances, substances entering our food at source, even though there isn't an outright ban.

Keith: I'm conscious whilst the title of this podcast is will my ham sandwich kill me? On a serious note, I think it is from what you've told me today. Important to remember that nitrates and nitrite consumption can have particularly nasty and unpleasant consequences, it seems to me. And it seems that. Do you think that nitrate and nitrite consumption would be an emerging risk and something that could in the future trigger a wave of claims?

Richard: Yes, Keith, I agree with you there. The consequences of excessive ingestion of nitrates and nitrites are very serious. If it is found that manufacturers have exceeded the safe limits of these within their foods, then yes, potentially action could be brought against them for failing to comply with health and safety regulations, but that would unlikely be the consumers themselves and more likely by the relevant food standards agencies.

With nitrates and nitrites being found naturally in vegetables and drinking water, it would be quite difficult for individual claimants to prove that it was the ingestion of nitrates and nitrites from certain products that caused any injury that they have to develop rather than from their ingestion of the same from other potentially, what are deemed healthy sources.

Richard: And a further difficulty would be evidencing exactly how much of a certain food type was ingested. How would you prove that claimant ate a certain amount of ham or processed meat?

Richard: Hopefully the developments in food technology will continue to reduce the harmfulness of processed meat sufficiently that the occurrences of these cancers diminish with time. It might be too little, too late for those who've consumed products in years gone by, but let's hope that the adverse consequences of the same are minimal.

Richard: An important principle to remember, and as you and I are both aware from our handling of occupational disease claims, is that any potential defence will only be judged by the relevant regulatory standards enforced at the time of the alleged exposure. Or in this case, it would be what standards were in place at the time of the ingestion of nitrates and nitrites.

Richard: So even if a stricter standard on what was considered to be safe consumption of these was imposed in years to come, it won't have retrospective enforceability. And therefore, so long as food manufacturers are compliant with the standards expected of them today, they ought not to be exposed to greater risk of future personal injury claims.

Keith: Thanks, Richard. Awfully interesting. I think at the end there, some comfort in the fact that I can still enjoy a bacon sandwich, perhaps only in moderation in the future, though.

Keith: Thank you all for listening. If anyone's got any questions arising out of the issues we discussed today, please feel free to contact either myself or Richard and please subscribe and look out for our next Law Behind the Headlines podcast, which should be out later this month. Thank you very much.