Foods flavoured with an artificial smoky taste, such as chips or ham, could well be a thing of the past in Europe, since the EU has voted to ban the use of eight of these smoke flavourings. As well as being fun social events, barbecues are also a time to enjoy the unique taste of food with a grilled, even smoky flavour, especially when it’s cooked directly on the grill. However, we all know that we shouldn’t overdo it, since the combustion of high-protein foods such as meat leads to the production of aromatic heterocyclic amines (AHAs), recognized as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
It’s perhaps no coincidence that, in recent years, the food industry has stepped up its use of smoke flavours, recreating the “smoked” effect with the aid of synthetic flavourings with a taste that keeps us coming back for more. Consumers in Europe may soon be even more keen on grilling their own meats, fish and other foods, as manufacturers will no longer be allowed to use certain flavourings that imitate the smoky taste. More precisely, eight smoke flavours are set to be withdrawn from EU shelves.
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