Nitrates in Lunch Meat Linked to Cancer
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What are Nitrates?
Salts like Sodium Nitrate can be found in processed meats (like lunch meat, bacon, sausage, pepperoni, etc.) and some other pre-packaged foods.
What are they doing in your food?
Meat has been preserved with salt for centuries. When scientists first began preserving meat with sodium nitrate they found that it reacted beautifully with the meat - far better than regular salt did!
When Soduim Nitrate is added to meat it:
- Preserves the bright pink color of the meat.
- Prevents the growth of the bacteria that cause botulism.
- Is cheap, and readily available.
Soduim Nitrate is sometimes used alone, or with Sodium Nitrite, to preserve foods.
The problem is, while nitrates preserve meat beautifully, what they do to us is not so pretty!
Time to get scientific:
When nitrates are added to meat and then cooked they combine with what are known as amines.
Amines are a cousin of ammonia that occur naturally within the meat (and within our stomachs). When nitrates combine with amines they form N-nitroso compounds. (PDF)
N-nitroso compounds are believed to be cancerous.
What does the research say?
The research on this topic is pretty clear. The more processed, nitrate-filled meat you eat, the greater your risk of cancer. The less you eat, the less you expose yourself to additional cancer risks.
Here are some facts to back that up:
- Every 1.7 ounces of processed meat consumed a day increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 21%.
- No amount of lunch meat, pepperoni, bacon, or sausage is considered completely safe
- In a seven year long study done by the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and the University of Southern California they found that subjects who ate the most processed meats had a 68% higher risk of pancreatic cancer than those who ate the least amount of them.
All of the above information was taken from a report issued by the American Institute for Cancer Research. The report was compiled by an international panel of experts who reviewed over 7,000 large-scale studies. You can view a free copy of the report here.
How can I help my family avoid nitrates?
The best way to protect your family from nitrates is to avoid eating processed meats. Even deli meat has been packaged and processed at some point, so it will still normally contain nitrates.
The easiest thing to do is to purchase fresh meats and prepare them yourself. Instead of buying turkey deli slices, purchase a whole turkey or chicken and roast it. You can always turn the leftovers into soup stock.
Connie’s Quick Tip:
Simmer leftover turkey and chicken bones/pieces for several hours (You can do this in a crock pot.) Cool and strain. Freeze the remaining broth in ice cube trays. Then transfer the frozen cubes to a labeled container. (If you don’t label them, then some poor unsuspecting family member could end up with chicken soup in their tea…ask me how I know this!)
**You can use these cubes instead of bullion cubes and avoid a ton of additives in your homemade meals.
If cooking a whole chicken or turkey is out of the question, and you don’t want to give up your afternoon sandwich, then there is still good news! Some companies are finally starting to preserve meats without using nitrates - that’s the upside.
The downside is that they are more expensive and you will probably have to go to places like whole food markets, or specialty stores to find them. Applegate Farms seems to be the nitrate-free brand rated highest for taste.
Resources:
- USA Today - Put down the bacon! Report emphasizes cancer-fat links
- OrganicConsumers.org -Consumer Warning: Processed Meats Cause Cancer
- SupermarketGuru - The 5 Things You Need to Know About Deli Meats (Cold Cuts)
- AmazingPregnancy.com - Is it safe to eat cold cuts or lunch meat during pregnancy? (Short Article)
- Scripps News - What to look for in lunch meat
What do you think?
How much lunch meat do you eat each week? Do you think the higher cost nitrate-free brands are worth it? Scroll down to give us your opinion!
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Photos from DrBulldog, UniversalClass, and ChildrenToday.com
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| Published on May 14th, 2008 | | 2 Comments | | Posted by Connie Brooks |
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