What is the smoky bacon ban amid toxic fears and risk of products off shelves?

Ireland could soon be saying goodbye to a raft of 'smoky bacon' flavoured products after the EU approved a proposal to phase out numerous smoke flavourings due to toxicity fears.

The Irish Government has written to the European Commission to express their fears for products and some businesses over the move but what is it all about.

What is the smoky bacon ban?

Last month, the EU approved the phased banning of the products over two years for food safety reasons. The EU food safety authority concluded toxicity concerns about the flavourings were “either confirmed or can’t be ruled out”. In order to add a smoky bacon flavour to food now, producers use a process of purifying smoke, removing harmful components like ash and tar. The flavour left over is then added to food such as crisps and meat. Producers argue this process is safer than traditional smoking. Despite that, producers are been given two years to discontinue use of such methods.

What has Ireland been saying about it?

Former Government Minister Simon Coveney wrote to the EU commissioner for food safety warning that the ban could have a detrimental effect on some businesses, according to the Irish Times who attained the letter via a Freedom of Information request. Mr Coveney has been lobbying for a longer phasing out period over several years to allow businesses find and implement new flavouring methods. Currently the process for most meat and fish will be phased out over five years, while for other products like crisps, the period is just two years.

Could products be taken off the shelves?

Around 40% of ham and bacon products in Ireland alone could be impacted. In a letter to Stella Kyriakides, EU commissioner for food safety back in March, Mr Coveney said he ban could lead to the “discontinuation of a wide range of products currently on the market”. These also include cheese, fish, sauces, soups, various other meats and snacks like crisps.

Mr Coveney said at the time that "300 products will be affected" with one individual company advising that 27 of their products would be on the chopping block. If producers don't comply with the ban after the two-year and five-year phasing out period beyond, their products will not be cleared for sale in Irish stores or around the EU.

Mr Coveney explained that the process of replacing the current method of flavouring would take longer than two years and could in fact take between 3 and five years, if not longer in some cases. Teagasc have said that doing so would be “an uncertain and complex process." Mr Coveney asked for an extension of the period.

What the EU says will happen next?

In April, a European Commission statement said that EU Member States had "endorsed a proposal from the Commission to not renew the authorisation of eight smoke flavourings for food."

"After a phase-out period, these flavourings will no longer be permitted for use in the EU," they said.

The statement continued: "The relevant decisions are based on scientific assessments by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) which concluded that for all eight smoke flavourings assessed, genotoxicity concerns are either confirmed or can’t be ruled out. EFSA’s opinion is based on an updated methodology, assessing new data submitted by the applicants. It concerns the specific flavourings which can be added to food, and not the food itself.

"Following extensive discussions with Member States and stakeholders, the Regulation sets out different phase-out periods to give time for producers and operators to adapt to the new rules. When used to replace traditional smoking (e.g. hams, fish, cheeses) the phase-out period is 5 years. For uses where the smoke flavouring is added for extra flavour (e.g. soups, crisps, sauces), the phase-out period will be 2 years. The Regulation will be formally adopted by the Commission in the coming weeks, to enter into force later this spring."