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The nitrites and nitrates are essential to making bacon (and other cured meats) taste good. The article is clickbait; the risk of bowel cancer in the study was
by stickfigure 9y ago
The nitrites and nitrates are essential to making bacon (and other cured meats) taste good. The article is clickbait; the risk of bowel cancer in the study was increased 18% - that is, from a low number to an 18% larger low number. This isn't a public health crisis, this is a perfectly rational individual choice.
Also, "uncured" bacon is a lie; one of the main ingredients is celery powder, which contains - you guessed it - naturally occurring nitrites.
- woolvalley 9y agoBowel cancer is the 3rd most common cancer in the USA, and cancer is one of the largest human causes of death that is fairly hard to avoid otherwise: https://www.verywell.com/what-is-the-most-common-cancer-in-the-us-2249408 https://www.verywell.com/what-is-the-most-common-cancer-in-t... So it's not a small chance.
- stickfigure 9y agoLet's use real numbers shall we? https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/colorect.html https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/colorect.html Approximately 4.3 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer at some point during their lifetime, based on 2012-2014 data. Your chance (roughly) goes from 4.3% to 5% if you eat bacon (and salumi, prosciutto, etc) regularly. Whether or not you personally consider this small or large, it seems like a pretty straightforward cost/benefit analysis.