Maison de l’Andouille cuts output 30% in EU safety row

Maison de l’Andouille has cut production by 30% as France enforces a 12-microgram EU limit on some PAHs, Euronews reported in an Oct. 20 news article.

The dispute matters because Brittany’s regional council said Paris should seek an EU derogation, a path Euronews said 10 other EU countries have used for traditional smoked products.

The Guémené-sur-Scorff producer makes andouille de Guémené, a Breton smoked pork sausage traditionally prepared over beechwood. PAHs, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are potentially carcinogenic compounds that can form during smoking.

Benoît Rivalan, owner of the century-old Maison de l’Andouille, told Euronews he fears French authorities could close the business if it breaches the limit. “We are on their radar,” he said.

Rivalan said the company had already changed its process to reduce contamination. “We employ a protective sleeve. It’s like a compression stocking: we put one over each andouille during the smoking process, and it captures 80% of the PAHs while preserving the flavor.”

The political fight in Brittany centres on whether the constraint comes from Brussels or from Paris’s application of EU food-safety rules. Euronews reported that EU law allows member states to ask for exemptions for traditional smoked meats whose methods cannot be changed without altering their flavour.

Paul Leguernic, a right-wing local councillor and knight of the Brotherhood of Guémené Andouille Tasters, told Euronews that successive French governments had declined to request such protection. He said it was easier to blame Brussels than to examine how France applied the regulation.

Producers previously tested the sausage without its skin, according to Euronews. The French Agriculture Ministry later required testing of the whole product, saying consumers also eat the skin. Rivalan told the outlet the change moved reported PAH levels from 6 to 8 micrograms to between 120 and 150 micrograms.

Loïg Chesnais-Girard, the left-wing president of Brittany’s regional council, wrote to the French government on Sept. 28 urging it to seek an exemption from the European Commission. Euronews reported that all political parties in the region except the Greens backed a resolution last week supporting that request.

The regional resolution said food safety should remain “an absolute priority,” while arguing that rules should account for traditional methods and what it described as limited health risks from the product. Ireland, Croatia, Cyprus, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Finland and Sweden have already secured derogations for certain smoked products, according to the report.

A European Commission spokesperson told Euronews that France had not yet filed a derogation request, unlike 10 other EU countries. “France can still request one,” the spokesperson said.

Source: news article, Euronews, Oct. 20, 2026