European Parliament narrowly failed to ban Döner kebabs as MEPs tighten controls over phosphate additives widely used in the meat following health warnings.
Good news for the spicy, grilled Turkish meal lovers: Europe’s kebab war is over. On Wednesday, in a vote in over how the meat is produced the European Parliament failed to outlaw additives regularly used in said kebabs. The European Commission called for looser regulation, more representative of the common practice in EU countries. However, a resolution put forward by the Socialist and Green groups opposed the proposition, and called for greater scrutiny. EU lawmakers present backed their motion by 373 votes for to 272 against – 3 votes short to block EC with an absolute majority.
The controversy was sparked by concerns about phosphate additives, common in sausages, other processed meats, nuts and dairy products. There have been health warnings about a high intake of phosphate additives, especially for people with cardiovascular problems and chronic kidney disease. The additives, identified by various E numbers on packaging labels, are thought to possibly increase the risk of heart disease and damage bones. Such additives are acting as a sort of glue for kebabs, so it doesn’t fall apart when it’s on a spit.
Technically phosphate additives are already banned in the EU. However, the rule is seldom enforced and they are still commonly used in the frozen meat. Hence the EC proposition allowing the use of phosphates in “frozen meat vertical meat spits”. The issue stems from industry’s request a few years ago for explicit permission to continue adding phosphates to frozen kebab meat. It however faced backlash by the European Socialist & Democrat group. “We do not want kebabs to be banned, but we want them to be healthy,” an S&D Group press release proclaimed.
Also, Kebabs joined a long list of EU disputes about the safety of foods centring on Europe’s left wing backed better-safe-than-sorry “precautionary principle.” This controversial principle also underpins calls to ban hormone-treated beef, chlorinated chicken and genetically modified organisms. The European Food Safety agency will launch its own investigation into phosphates next year, a move which could reignite the debate into the additives.
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