FSA Notification, 23 August 2011
The Agency is seeking the views of meat manufacturers on the use of nitrites in meat products and is asking for interested parties to respond to a European Union (EU) questionnaire.
This monitoring exercise was envisaged in Commission Decision 2010/561/EU which approved the retention of national provisions on the use of nitrites in meat products in Danish legislation for a period of five years.
On the basis of the collective responses, the Commission will decide whether it is appropriate to amend the levels of nitrites that may be added to meat products in Directive 2006/52/EC (see attached table which sets out the levels of nitrites currently permitted by Directive 2006/52/EC).
Please see the questionnaire in the attached letter. The Commission is asking a number of questions relating to the typical and maximum amounts of nitrites added to various types of meat products. From the phrasing of the questions, it seems that the Commission is asking about non-traditional meat products, controls on the levels of nitrites and nitrates in which are based on added rather than residual amounts.
Responses to these questions are requested by Monday 31 October 2011.
A copy of the FSA letter (with the legal limits) is available on this site. See FSA Nitrite Letter. Also available is the questionnaire: Nitrites Questionnaire.