The truth about nitro-meats: my seven-year search for better bacon
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
I prefer the labels that just say "bacon" and don't claim to be preservative-free. If there is not any demonstrated (or even hypothetical) benefit to nitrates/nitrites being added from different sources ("natural" or otherwise), it should be considered deceptive advertising to make it seem like there is a difference (or that your product has none).
Blame the US gov, they are the ones that decided using celery salt as your source of nitrates meant you "didn't add any nitrates". Maybe if our government was functional enough to not regularly shutdown from inaction, we would have an easier time improving and updating food labeling requirements.
This is not allowed under EU and UK rules. You can't just add natural nitrites (like celery juice extract) and call it nitrite-free.
Here's the ingredients list for a popular brand of nitrite-free bacon in the UK: https://finnebrogue.com/products/naked-smoked-streaky-bacon-...
They explicitly state that they do not add any nitrites in any form: "We do not use any nitrites, whether from traditional sodium nitrite or nitrites derived from vegetable extracts like celery juice."
(there is no way for me to edit the link)
Actual title: The truth about nitro-meats: my seven-year search for better bacon
Summary: In response to nitrates added to meat being a known carcinogen for some time, specific (named) manufacturers in the UK are making bacon without nitrates.
It’s very promotional and from the Food section.
> In the US, there has been a clampdown on bacon marketed as “uncured”, which has been spiked with celery or other vegetable extracts instead of the E numbers. It may sound healthy, but it’s not. Like many vegetables, celery is a source of nitrate, and a concentrated extract can indeed stand in nicely for the usual additives. But the end product still contains harmful levels of nitrates, and can now no longer be labelled as “uncured”, or “no nitrate or nitrite added”.
> Prosur’s secret ingredient isn’t the only nitrate-free colour enhancer on the market.
Title: The truth about nitro-meats: my seven-year search for better bacon
“I am that disgusting person who dips her fingers in the pan after cooking bacon, to savour the salty melted fat.“
Ham, bacon, chorizo, cured deli meats, and Hot dogs can contain nitrates/nitrites.
Spinach, bok choy, carrots, and lettuce do too but it’s a healthy form that is good for you.
> The WHO lists processed meat as a “known human carcinogen” along with smoking, alcohol and asbestos
There are also links to other articles interspersed in the text.
Apparently it’s worrying enough that the EU and multiple countries elsewhere have started to ban / phase it out.
Fermented meat like in sausages is not bad altogether; for example in Andorra, people live longer on average while having sausage every day. Additionally, it is more sustainable to eat animals whole than just the pretty muscle meat.
Sadly there is no Reinheitsgebot like for German beer, which precisely specifies allowed ingredients of sausages.
My understanding is that in the UK/EU companies cannot claim that they added no nitrites while loading the bacon up with nitrite-rich celery extract.
Maybe I’m just cynical, but I would assume that any food that goes through any level of processing could be classified as a carcinogen if you looked hard enough. Most of all meat, which would be even more susceptible to consuming inedible byproducts such as microplastics.
https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/can...
> I didn’t realise quite how much I loved bacon, pancetta, chorizo and ham until the World Health Organization added processed meats to its list of carcinogens in 2015.