The curious case of the great celery powder scam
Nitrites are bad, right? Or is it nitrates?
Both are, sort of. So to be safe, a lot of people who pride themselves on looking at labels and eating healthful foods have moved to buying bacon and other cured meats that are made without nitrates.
Ah, but the joke is on them. They may be looking at labels, but they are not looking closely enough.
Bear with me, though, because this gets confusing. Sorry.
In the 1970s, scientists discovered that compounds called nitrosamines can cause cancer in a variety of animals. Because the problem was evident in so many species of animals, the assumption was that they could cause cancer in humans, too.
Subsequent studies have shown a possible link between human cancer and nitrosamines, but nothing has yet been definitively proven.
Nitrosamines are generally found in humans when we eat food with sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite in it — they are formed when nitrates or nitrites come into contact with our gastric juices. Sodium nitrate is found naturally in many vegetables; it can also be dug out of a mine. Sodium nitrite can be created in a laboratory, but it also forms when sodium nitrate reacts with saliva.
So it’s simple, right? To minimize your risk of getting stomach, colon or pancreatic cancers, simply stay away from sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite.
But sodium nitrite is generally a good thing. It makes a wonderfully effective preservative, and it keeps away pesky bacteria like the one that causes botulism. More to the point, that great taste that is a part of bacon and hot dogs and other cured meats actually comes from sodium nitrite.
And remember, sodium nitrate occurs naturally in things like spinach. And carrots. And radishes. And beets. And celery.
No one has ever suggested these healthful vegetables give you cancer, right? How can they be loaded with sodium nitrate and not be harmful?
The answer is that
these vegetables with sodium nitrate also have ascorbic acid (vitamin C), which helps to inhibit the creation of nitrosamines. Although a link between nitrosamines and cancer in humans has not been absolutely established, studies have shown that it is likely enough that the USDA now requires vitamin C or vitamin E to be added to bacon to counteract the potential effects of the nitrates and nitrites.
Which brings us back to those trendy packages of uncured bacon made without nitrates or nitrites. It is safe to bet that a lot of the people who buy them, and feel good about themselves for doing so, fail to notice the asterisk.
The asterisk comes after the phrase “no nitrates or nitrites added,” and here is what the small print says somewhere else on the label: “except for those naturally occurring nitrates and nitrites in celery powder” or sea salt or the like.
Celery powder, which is the powdered form of celery juice, sounds like a good thing. It’s natural. Celery is good for you. Adding it can only improve your health.
Except it doesn’t.
Celery powder is positively loaded with sodium nitrate. Depending on the soil and conditions in which the celery was grown, celery powder can actually add more sodium nitrate to bacon than the meat-packers do when they add pure sodium nitrate.
And because the celery powder is technically considered a flavoring agent instead of a preservative, which is what it is being used for, the uncured bacon
does not have to have the vitamin C or vitamin E added to it.
So obviously, the smart thing to do is to stay away from uncured bacon. Which would be a fine idea, except that it tastes so good.
As is the case with most things, a little bit is not going to kill you. You can continue to enjoy your bacon, whether it is cured or uncured, if you don’t eat too much of it.
Connect With Us