With the continued aim of offering natural charcuterie and cured meat products for everyone, the André Bazin company has removed all flavor enhancers, and more specifically the controversial glutamate, from its ingredient lists.

Glutamate

Glutamate is an amino salt naturally present in our body and in many unprocessed foods (meats, fruits, vegetables, fish, etc.). In its synthetic form, it is an additive from the family of flavor enhancers, which can be found in many food products, including charcuterie, to accentuate salty flavors, the taste of meat or broth.

In 2017, the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) conducted a study to re-evaluate the safety of glutamates used as food additives.

The report concludes that this flavor enhancer is safe for "most sections of the population" and an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 30 mg per kg of body weight is calculated. According to Dr. Claude Lampré, member of the EFSA scientific panel and chair of the working group in charge of this study:

"Based on the available evidence, we believe that the new group ADI calculated for glutamic acid and glutamates adequately protects the health of consumers because it is below the doses associated with some effects observed in humans, such as headaches, increased blood pressure or increased insulin levels."

What flavor enhancers are found in cold meats?

The Food Codex has established the complete list of flavor enhancers, and they are in the “E” food additive family.

• Glutamates from E 620 to E 625
• Guanylates from E 626 to E 629
• Inosinates from E 630 to E 633

In the food industry, there are rules on when and how to add these additives, and in our core business, charcuterie, it is the Code of Practices for Charcuterie that serves as the reference.

Glutamic acid (E620) and its salts (E 621 to E 625) are authorized in certain products:

• Cooked ham choice
• Standard Cooked Ham
• Knacks
• Cooked sausages
• Choice and standard cuts of meat

Flavor enhancers are prohibited in the organic range, and on other products such as:

• Superior cooked ham
• The bacon
• Raw ham
• The top cuts of meat

How did André Bazin's teams remove these additives from their products?

At André Bazin, after our innovative work on “Nitrite-free”, our Clean Label approach logically led us to the elimination of flavor enhancers.

• Thus, our research and development teams worked for about a year to completely remove monosodium glutamate (E 621), which was the only enhancer used in our Knacks, Strasbourg sausages, cooked garlic sausages, cooked ham sausages, chipolatas, grilled meats and marinated bacon ranges.

Technical and meticulous work, in collaboration with our spice suppliers, which allowed us to replace this additive with natural aromas and preserve the taste and flavor of our products.

We are therefore very proud to announce that since 2021, we can guarantee our customers that no André Bazin references contain flavor enhancers.