Too much to bear - Bacon a proven cause of cancer

[packman]

The health risk of bacon is largely to do with two food additives: potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre) and sodium nitrite. It is these that give salamis, bacons and cooked hams their alluring pink colour. Saltpetre – sometimes called sal prunella – has been used in some recipes for salted meats since ancient times. As Jane Grigson explains in Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery, saltpetre was traditionally used when brining hams to give them “an attractive rosy appearance when otherwise it would be a murky greyish brown”.

In an ideal world, we would all be eating diets lower in meat, processed or otherwise, for the sake of sustainability and animal welfare as much as health. But in the world we actually live in, processed meats are still a normal, staple protein for millions of people who can’t afford to swap a value pack of frying bacon for a few slivers of Prosciutto di Parma. Around half of all meat eaten in developed countries is now processed, according to researcher John Kearney, making it a far more universal habit than smoking.

The real victims in all this are not people like me who enjoy the occasional bacon-on-sourdough in a hipster cafe. The people who will be worst affected are those – many on low incomes – for whom the cancer risk from bacon is compounded by other risk factors such as eating low-fibre diets with few vegetables or wholegrains. In his book, Coudray points out that in coming years, millions more poor consumers will be affected by preventable colon cancer, as westernised processed meats conquer the developing world.

A long read - basically the author accuses the processed meat industry hiding the dangers of cancer-causing chemicals much akin to the cigarette industry concealing the dangers of smoking.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/01/bacon-cancer-processed-meats-nitrates-nitrites-sausages

Three smells linger in the memory forever - the wonderful talc smell of a baby, the smell of leather seats in a brand-new car, and morning bacon sizzling in a cast-iron pan in the kitchen mingled with freshly brewed coffee.

[SummerSnow]

1. I eat uncured bacon now

[Drahthaardogs]

7. Whole muscles can be cured only with salt

Prosciutto and pancetta are typically made without nitrates or nitrites. Ground and dried or smoked sausages or lunch meat are a different matter.

They make nitrate free hot dogs, but they are loaded with celery powder which has nitrate

[packman]

10. Yes, that is what the article recommends as subs

Prosciutto and pancetta -

[Drahthaardogs]

31. Pancetta is a superior cured meat to bacon anyway

I make about 50 lbs of it every year

[Farmer-Rick]

35. Yeah, I've cured bacon, lamb and beef both with nitrates and without.

To tell you the truth they tasted the same.

I will not reduce the amount of meat I eat. But then I raise my own on carefully manage pastures. The trick is to move them from place to place before they eat the pasture down.

[CanonRay]

2. I still love bacon.

[womanofthehills]

19. I love bacon too - but will only eat nitrate free uncured

Uncured bacon and eggs (from my own chickens) along with fresh organic blueberries or oranges, I believe is a healthy breakfast. Much better than oats and grains - usually sprayed with Roundup three days before harvest.

[Drahthaardogs]

3. I make salami, prosciutto, and pancetta

There is more nitrate in a bunch of celery than there is in an entire salami.

Also, you NEED nitrate in these foods as they break down into nitrites that inhibit botulism toxin.

[Thyla]

4. I'll take my chances.

I'm not scared.

[HipChick]

14. Me too...

[tonyt53]

36. I'm with you guys!

[genxlib]

5. NOOOOOOOOOO!

Although I would be lying if I said I was surprised.

I am hoping this is one of those volume things where they fed rats the equivalent of 40 pounds of bacon a day. Maybe it is still safe to eat a few slices a week.

[Shrike47]

6. I also eat uncured bacon, on the rare occasions I buy bacon anymore. Alas, I have aged out.

[FSogol]

8. Proof: There is no God.

[OliverQ]

21. Actually God says not to eat pork products in the Bible. :P

[FSogol]

22. Does shrimp cause cancer? They say not to eat that too.

[ananda]

9. I eat organic uncured turkey bacon.

It's good too.

[Javaman]

11. you can get bacon without those. personally, I have to...

nitrates give me migraines.

and that type isn't hard to find.

And it tastes no different than with nitrates.

and here's more information regarding the nitrates in celery power.

https://firsthandfoods.com/2017/12/06/nitrate-free-bacon-myth-or-reality/

[maxsolomon]

12. CELERY is carcinogenic. PARSNIPS are carcinogenic.

no one here gets out alive.

[womanofthehills]

18. I think it's only the brown spots on celery - I always make sure I cut them off

the brown spots are a fungus called pink rot.


Then you have peanut butter loaded with aflatoxins - peanuts I never eat.

[tblue37]

27. The game of life is hard to play; you're gonna lose it anyway. nt

[PJMcK]

13. Of course it is

As my doctor told me, "If it tastes good, you can't have it."

It's probably Obama's fault. (wink)

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. Lol.

[Nailzberg]

16. So is the coffee I'm washing it down with. Yum. Not getting out of here alive anyway.

[The_jackalope]

17. My wife was fanatically devoted to her health

Organic everything, 100% vegetarian, never bought food with additives.

Died last September at the age of 65 from ovarian cancer.

Memento mori. Fuck it, life is too short, I'm going to enjoy whatever time I have here. I eat bacon.

[SweetieD]

28. Sorry about your loss. I have a family friend going through a cancer battle now who is young

just turned 40, was an avid runner, vegetarian, never overweight,and she is now fighting to live for her husband and baby. Life is way too short. I think everything is ok in moderation.

[MelissaB]

20. This is not new. :) When I became a vegetarian bacon is the ONLY food I had trouble giving up.

I has all the triggers and is amazingly good. It took a long time to not want it even when my husband cooks it.

[DFW]

23. Only reason I'm still alive

Probably due to the fact that I never really liked bacon.

Actually, since I was diagnosed with high uric acid 30 years ago, I cut down on most red meat anyway. I'll have the occasional slice of Bündnerfleisch, but that's about it.

[MountCleaners]

24. Bacon killed my dad

Awful stuff. The reason I became a vegetarian.

[SweetieD]

25. It tastes so good. I have cut back on it a lot. I only have it a few times a year now.

[tblue37]

26. And fresh-brewed coffee. Nothing could taste as good as coffee smells while

brewing, so to me coffee is always a bit of a disappointment to drink.

[samnsara]

29. im still gonna eat it....

... i don't smoke so I get one vice (ok, two)

[Wolf Frankula]

30. Oxygen is a proved cause of cancer.

If you breathe oxygen, you get cancer.

Wolf

[lunasun]

32. I had bacon wrapped then broiled asparagus last night . The asaparagus was thin and some

of the bunches wrapped were burnt at the top making it crispy. But that was the only meat on the dish of food . Extra thick cut from a local
yum
oh well...

[mythology]

33. As always the details matter

Eating 2 slices of bacon a day increases your odds of colorectal cancer from about 5% to about 6%. Yes it's an increase, but to my mind not a significant one. That said there are plenty of more significant reasons to not eat a lot of bacon like heart disease. But as with most "bad" things, if you eat it moderately, it won't significantly impact your health provided you have a balanced diet, exercise and don't have some other underlying condition.

[PasadenaTrudy]

34. There's some

damn good tempeh bacon out there now, thank goodness.

[janterry]

37. Giving up meat is a process

I did it many years ago and don't miss it. Lately, I've been toying with veganism. I assume that's a process, too - so I'm taking my time looking at great vegan recipes - so that it is also fun .

[ollie10]

38. Nitrates are not the only health risks of bacon.....

The elephant in the room .... way too many fat grams.

Another problem is sodium content.

I love bacon. However, it is a rare occassion that I eat it.

If you want to eat healthy....and that is a big if....you need lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains.....cut down on red meats.....don't need to be vegetarian, but don't over-do meat....and as for stuff like bacon, sausage, salami, and other chemical factories masquerading as food......you gotta be kidding!!!

[LAS14]

39. What puzzles me is that this is being posted as news. Adele Davis alerted...

...us to nitrates and nitrites in the 70's.