With summer in full swing, Canadians are gearing up for barbecue season and eagerly reaching for their favourite smoked flavoured chips and barbecue treats. However, while these snacks are a staple at summer get-togethers, they are also coming under closer scrutiny for their safety following a recent ban of smoked flavoured chips in Europe over genotoxicity concerns.
The European Union moved in April to ban several artificial smoke flavourings in popular foods such as chips, cheese, barbecue sauce and ham over health concerns linked to cancer.
Flavours such as smoky bacon chips are being phased out across the EU over the next two to five years, and a European Commission report published in April said the cancer risks were linked to the smoke purification process, which removes compounds such as tar and ash before flavours are added to food.
“The relevant decision was based on a scientific evaluation by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which concluded that for all eight smoke flavourings evaluated, genotoxicity concerns were either confirmed or could not be excluded,” the report said.
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To give snacks, sauces, soups and more a smoky taste, food manufacturers often turn to smoke flavorings. These flavorings are made through a process called pyrolysis, which involves burning wood and carefully refining the smoke. This process removes harmful substances like ash and tar, leaving behind a concentrated liquid smoke that can be added to foods, according to the EFSA.
But EFSA research has linked smoky flavourings to genotoxicity – the ability of chemicals to damage a cell’s genetic material, raising the risk of developing cancer and other genetic diseases, the agency warned.
Among the chemicals EFSA identified as being present in smoke flavourings are styrene, which is known to be probably carcinogenic to humans, and benzenediol, which has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as another possible carcinogen.
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EFSA said it was unable to determine a safe intake level for smoky flavours due to concerns about genotoxicity, and as the possibility of DNA damage could not be ruled out it decided a ban on eight smoky flavours was the most appropriate measure.
While Europe may be saying goodbye to the smoky flavour, Canadians can still get their hands on the bagged version for the time being, Health Canada says.
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Health Canada told Global News on Wednesday it is aware of Europe’s concerns.
“While smoke flavourings are available on the Canadian market, they must be safe when used as directed. Canada’s Food and Drugs Act prohibits the sale of food that contains toxic or harmful substances and allows Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to take risk management measures if a food is deemed unsafe to consume for any reason, including the use of improper smoke flavourings,” the spokesperson said in an email.
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Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency have several monitoring programs in place to continually monitor levels of chemical contamination in the food supply, the spokesperson said.
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One of Health Canada’s major surveillance programs is the Canadian Comprehensive Diet Survey, which measures the concentrations of various chemical contaminants in foods that are typical of the Canadian diet. Health Canada does not require premarket review of most foods that contain flavorings, and does not analyze the chemicals in individual smoke flavors or other types of flavorings.
However, Health Canada said if potential safety concerns are identified, appropriate risk management measures will be considered.
With barbecue season fast approaching, Canadians may be wondering why something is banned in Europe but not in Canada, said Keith Wariner, a food safety professor at the University of Guelph.
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“It’s barbecue season, and liquid smoke is the essence of barbecue, as is charcoal and all of the wood,” said Keith Wariner, a food safety professor at the University of Guelph.
He said the reason smoky flavours are being banned in Europe “really has to do with the way European regulatory bodies are set up.”
“In Europe we have what’s called the precautionary principle, so basically you have to prove that something is safe in order to be approved,” he said.
In Canada, Health Canada has a different approach, and must prove it’s dangerous before regulators will take it off the list, he said.
“In Europe they’re saying, ‘We have some evidence that it may be harmful, but we’re not sure, so we’re not going to take the risk,'” he explained. “And here they’re saying, ‘We’re going to keep using it until something really catastrophic happens.’ So it’s a two-pronged approach.”
Is it still safe to take?
One of the studies on which EFSA based its conclusion was a 2022 study published in the journal Toxicology, which argued that liquid smoke products may contain harmful chemicals produced during the wood combustion process.
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The study looked at the potential toxicity of the chemical mixture that flavours liquid smoke by adding it to tissue cultures and watching how it killed the cells.
But Wariner noted that most animal studies have been negative and found no increased health risks from smoking flavourings.
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He added that Canadian regulators may have reviewed the study, concluded there was no evidence it was unsafe for humans and deemed it acceptable.
“So they say, ‘OK, so let’s just say it’s generally considered safe,'” he said.
Moderation is key, Wariner says: If you’re concerned, he recommends enjoying liquid smoke responsibly, just like with anything else. But if you’re still very concerned, Wariner adds, another option is to avoid liquid smoke foods or drinks altogether.
