Supermarkets' ham and bacon still contain dangerous nitrites

Ham and bacon sold by supermarkets including Tesco and M&S still contain cancer-causing chemicals almost 10 years after the World Health Organization warned of their dangers.

- Denis Campbell

Wiltshire ham has the highest concentration of nitrites, according to a new analysis which compared it to cooked ham and unsmoked bacon. All 21 products tested in a laboratory were found to contain nitrites, which are used to preserve meat, despite the WHO in October 2015 declaring them to be unsafe.

Tesco's Wiltshire ham contained almost 33 milligrams per kilogram, 11 times the 2.88mg/kg in its cooked ham and almost four times the 8.64mg/kg in its unsmoked bacon. It was also almost 18 times the 1.84mg/kg found in Morrisons' bacon.