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Reminder that bacon is already a known carcinogen for those worrying about artificial sweeteners but happily eating processed meats.
by jxidjhdhdhdhfhf 3y ago
Reminder that bacon is already a known carcinogen for those worrying about artificial sweeteners but happily eating processed meats.
- LegitShady 3y agoIt’s actually sodium nitrite that’s carcinogenic (after being exposed to high heat), and I can find bacon without sodium nitrite here pretty much at every grocery store.
- remote_phone 3y agoIf you read carefully, it still contains sodium nitrite except as powdered celery. So the source of the sodium nitrate is “natural” but the dose is still the same.
- Shorel 3y agoI buy raw pork belly. Doesn't taste the same after being cooked, but surely it has no nitrites. ;)
- LegitShady 3y agoFml so I’ve been paying more for nitrite free bacon that still has nitrite in it? It feels like saying something contains no nitrites or preservatives and then including them in the form of cultured celery extract should be fraud/false advertising and a crime.
- tptacek 3y agoYou extremely have been conned by the "nitrite-free bacon" labeling, yes. This is something that food writers have been complaining about for over a decade.
- malnourish 3y agoAdding to what remote_phone said, and repeating another comment of mine, that nitrite free bacon still has the same amount of nitrites (in some cases, more). https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos/5734-nitrate-free-bacon https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos...
- LegitShady 3y agoThere’s one place near me that sells actual nitrate/nitrite free bacon but its super expensive - $10-12 Canadian for 250grams or so. It like double bacon in the store and its an hour drive away. Sad to learn about the celery nitrite thing. I’ve been overpaying for it for a while now, apparently. It literally says “contains no preservatives” but has “cultured celery extract” in the ingredients, so its a lie.
- copperx 3y agoYup. You were overpaying for a worse product. Unfortunately, that seems to be the norm in processed products branded as healthy. It's better to stick the the regular version; the kinks have been probably worked out. Still unsafe, but unsafe in a known quantity.
- galangalalgol 3y agoIf it is completely uncured sure, but usually niteite/nitrate free bacon has an asterisk saying something like "beyond what is naturally found in the added celery juice". If you heat those nitrites in the bacon it doesn't the same thing as the synthetic stuff would. Luckily trichinosis is largely a thing of the past, so why heat it? Uncooked bacon tastes awesome. Also, in stews I believe it does reach the dangerous temps?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- tptacek 3y agoSodium nitrate converts to sodium nitrite over the course of a cure; that's why Prague Powder #2 is used for long-term cures.
- nomel 3y agoThis is not correct, in spirit of "is it carcinogenic": https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/nitrosamine https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-prof... This is why Vitamin C was a required additive, with "nitrate" cured meats. Unfortunately, it is not with the "nitrate from celery" forms, which should lead to more cancer.
- susysink 3y agoBut without sodium nitrite you instead run the risk of increased bacterial growth, and in the worse case: botulinum toxin which is like instant death compared to dying of cancer at 70+.
- Fezzik 3y agoMy understanding is that bacon itself is not the culprit of the possible (note — possible) carcinogen. The sodium nitrate that is often used as a preservative is. Nitrate-free bacon is easy to find though.
- malnourish 3y agoNitrate-free (or, "no nitrates added") bacon still contains nitrates. About the same amount as standard bacon, and in some cases, more. https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos/5734-nitrate-free-bacon https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/how_tos...
- raspyberr 3y agoIn the UK, we have nitrate-free bacon available that is actually nitra(i)te free: https://www.betternaked.com/products/better-naked-unsmoked-back-bacon-rashers/ https://www.betternaked.com/products/better-naked-unsmoked-b...
- malnourish 3y agoI'm intrigued. That seems a fair bit different than the uncured bacon I'm familiar with in the US [0], but I would certainly give it a try. [0]: https://applegate.com/products/natural-thick-cut-bacon https://applegate.com/products/natural-thick-cut-bacon
- loeg 3y ago(Note that this product is actually cured with nitrates via the celery powder in the ingredients list.)
- copperx 3y agoAh, the magic of marketing. It's exactly the same, except one uses celery. No, in fact, if I remember correctly, the nitrates used in the "uncured" process were even higher than the normal process.
- Lonewolfa 3y agoSource please
- jxidjhdhdhdhfhf 3y agohttps://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/cancer-carcinogenicity-of-the-consumption-of-red-meat-and-processed-meat https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/can...
- adrr 3y agoOr drinking hot tea. Working graveyard shift. Drinking alcohol.
- 93po 3y agoBreathing air in any city.
- sacnoradhq 3y agoThat's why I have a BlueAir air filter running continuously that spits out 0 ppm air and swapped my A/C's filters for the highest MERV ones available.
- 93po 3y agoI had to remove the ionizer from my blueair, ionizers plus terpenes (what essential oils are made of, and in virtually all cleaning products) creates formaldehyde, which I'm allergic to, and is linked to cancer and kids developing asthma. https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/research/apr/past/01-336.pdf https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/classic/research/...
- tptacek 3y agoWhy stop with nitrates and nitrites? Acrylamide is a known human carcinogen, and occurs in a huge variety of cooking processes (including baking, frying, and grilling). If you eat potatoes, you're almost certainly putting yourself at more risk than aspartame is: we've got epidemiology and mechanism of action to back up the potato risk.
- grvdrm 3y agoSerious question: do you have kids and if so, what do you feed them if you avoid acrylamide? I’m constantly looking for alternatives for my kids and it feels like an endless game of whack-a-mole such that they do, sometimes anyways, eat the processed things because I can’t eradicate the junk from everything.
- tptacek 3y agoI don't avoid acrylamide! How would I? :) (I have 2 kids, but both are in their early 20s.)
- likpok 3y agoI believe California even helpfully warns you about any location that has acrylamide.
- nonethewiser 3y agoSo… restaurants?
- maxk42 3y agoLiterally yes. Every Starbucks in California has a little placard with that stupid warning to the point where people tune it out.
- scubbo 3y ago> Congress passed legislation intended to make life better for people allergic to sesame seeds. Instead, it made things worse. > The bill, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and signed into law by President Biden in 2021, requires manufacturers to label sesame on their products starting this year. > In response, some companies began adding sesame to products that hadn’t included it in the past—saying it was safer to add sesame and label it, rather than certify they had eliminated all traces of it. > People with sesame allergies say the result is fewer sesame-free food options, as well as new and unexpected risks from sesame in foods they used to eat without worry. https://www.wsj.com/articles/sesame-allergy-sufferers-wanted-warning-labels-they-got-more-sesame-283c70ce?mod=hp_listb_pos1 https://www.wsj.com/articles/sesame-allergy-sufferers-wanted...
- penneallagricia 3y agoWith bacon you know what you get, so you can dose it and take your risks. Aspartame has been sold to us as the healthy alternative to sugar. People literally use aspartame as an excuse to chug liters of soda every day.
- Aachen 3y agoIsn't it a healthy alternative to sugar? If you have a one in five chance to live ten years longer because you don't develop cardiovascular issues from obesity, but one in a million develops cancer, I mean... It's going to depend on how this turns out exactly.
- favorited 3y agoThe WHO recently conditionally recommended against using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control. Their stance is that we should be reducing sweetened food/beverage intake in general, rather than trying to find healthier ways to sweeten what we eat. https://www.who.int/news/item/15-05-2023-who-advises-not-to-use-non-sugar-sweeteners-for-weight-control-in-newly-released-guideline https://www.who.int/news/item/15-05-2023-who-advises-not-to-...
- Shorel 3y agoI am personally trying to achieve that. Liquid chocolate, the kind we drink as a hot beverage in Central and South America, was difficult for me to get used to without any sweet taste. Nowadays I prefer it that way. Coffee is a bit more difficult for me.
- mannykannot 3y agoWhile that is their stance, it is conditioned on what they seem to consider to be good evidence that using non-sugar sweeteners for weight control does not work (at the level of public health, that is; for individuals, YMMV.)
- abtinf 3y agoIf we shift the context just a little bit, everyone would ridicule this kind of abstinence-only approach.
- opan 3y agoI hope you're saying to stop eating bacon as well and not just that nothing matters.
- Aachen 3y agoNeither nor. They're saying to see things in perspective.