Smoked sausage makers considering alternatives for smoke aroma due to possible EU ban

Producers of smoked sausages and other food products may have to find different ways to achieve the smoked taste. European Union Member States endorsed a ban on eight smoke flavorings this week due to the potential health risks they can cause.

The ingredients will no longer be in use as an added flavor to items like crisps and nuts starting in 2026. Products where a flavoring replaces the actual smoking process, like meats, fish and cheeses, will get a longer five-year transition period to find an alternative.

Unox smoked sausages contain smoke aromas. The flavorings are also in soups that contain meat or the taste of meat, said a spokesperson for Unix parent company Unilever.

Sausage and ham maker Zwanenberg Food Group, which has brands like Kips, Zwan, and Lupack, has also said it uses smoke aromas in its smoked sausages and frankfurters.

The spokespeople said that if the ban on smoke aromas is approved, Unilever and Zwanenberg want to develop alternatives. The company's spokespeople added that neither company knows the other options yet. The spokesperson for Zwanenberg said that the company is awaiting the vote result.

The smoked sausages of HEMA do not contain the smoked aromas, the shopping chain reported. The sausages are indirectly smoked using wood smoke.

Some products of the house brands of Jumbo and Albert Heijn also contain smoke aromas. Certain Albert Heijn nuts and peanuts have the same aroma. At Jumbo, it is in the smoked cheese, salted almonds with a smoked taste, hotdogs, lean smoked bacon strips, and smoked chicken fillet strips.

Jumbo has said that if the countries vote in favor of the ban, they will look into alternatives with suppliers for products containing smoke aromas.

Jumbo, Unilever, and Zwanenburg do not expect to have to stop with the smoke aromas instantly if the ban is voted in. The three companies assume that there will be a transition period in which they can arrange alternatives.

The European regulator EFSA had researched eight smoke aromas. They found substances that six of them can cause cancer or other severe illnesses. The EFSA could not rule out the possibility that the other two aromas also contained harmful substances.