Doner vendors furious as EU mulls kebab ban

The doner kebab, that grilled fast-food sandwich which is the gastronomic equivalent of an American hamburger in many European cities, is under fire.
The European Union's legislature is moving to ban the phosphates used in the slabs of meat at the heart of the popular street snack that originated in Turkey.
EU lawmakers are citing health concerns based on studies that linked phosphates to cardiovascular disease. Owners of takeout restaurants and industry groups claim the additives are needed to keep seasoned kebab meat juicy and flavorful, both during transport and on the vertical retail rotisseries where it is cooked.
The Health Committee voted 32-22 to oppose it, following recent studies indicating the additive put people at a greater risk of heart disease.
A vote of the full Parliament set to take place in two weeks could see the ingredient banned, potentially banishing the doner kebab from European menus and Kebab shop owners are not happy about it.
“They are looking for ways to hurt Turkish businesses here,” Baris Donmez, the owner of a 24-hour kebab bistro in Berlin’s Mitte district, told Associated Press. “Such a ban would be the biggest pile of garbage imaginable.”
“If the European Parliament gets its way, this would be the death sentence for the entire doner kebab industry in the European Union,” Kenan Koyuncu of the German Association of Doner Kebab Producers told Germany’s Bild daily newspaper.