4 ms·

That's not entirely true. It must be cured, but it doesn't necessarily need nitrites to cure it. You can buy salt cured bacon here: https://shop.bentonscountry

• tptacek 9y ago
  Benton's is great bacon, but: (1) You can look at that price tag and see why it's unlikely to be your go-to bacon, (2) Last I checked, Benton's used a nitrate cure, and (3) Seriously, intensely smoked food (Benton's bacon qualifies) is probably going to be more carcinogenic from the smoking compounds than from the cure. Unlike nitrate->N-nitrosamine, we're pretty clear on how smoked food causes gastric cancer.
• subpixel 9y ago
  If you live near a large enough community of former Yugoslavians, you can find nitrate-free Suho Meso, which (when it's good) is like a cross between bacon and prosciutto. However, it contains all the carcinogens of smoked meat. That said the largest brand in the US (US-produced, actually) is not nitrate-free.