Have a BLT - Without the B
By Cheryl Harbour

Mmmm. Two crispy strips of bacon tucked between toast, along with lettuce, tomato and mayo. Or nestled next to an omelette on a Sunday morning. Or broken into bits in a spinach salad. THAT would be healthy, wouldn't it?

Well, no.

Many of us who haven't yet given up eating bacon probably will, after learning the facts - or at least become choosier about the bacon we buy.

Back in 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced it had collected sufficient evidence to declare that "processed meats" (of which bacon is one of the baddest boys) were to be classified as a “group 1 carcinogen,” meaning scientists had concluded they cause cancer, particularly colon cancer. The group also included hot dogs, salami, chorizo, bratwurst and others.

For a while there was a buzz about it, then it died down and people resumed their processed-meat habits, assuming that if they didn't eat them "all the time," they'd be ok.

According to a recent report in The Guardian, the main reason the WHO warning didn't have much impact is because the meat industry got involved. What happened next was a lot of conversation about nitrates and nitrites – which were the cancer-causing culprits. These chemicals are added in the curing process to make processed meats taste better and look pink and rosy instead of dull brown. One of the arguments from meat processors was that nitrates occur naturally in many fruits and vegetables.

As it turns out, processing meats without using those chemicals can be done, but takes longer so is not as profitable for the meat-makers.

One meat that's processed the slower way is prosciutto de Parma. Those Italian meat-makers got together and agreed not to use nitrates or nitrites. So if you want some pink, rosy meat in your meals, look for that.

And if you're stuck on bacon, new nitrate-free bacon is gradually being introduced in supermarkets. Called "streaky bacon," (at least in the UK), this product was developed by a British company, Finnebrogue, using a combination of food technology innovation and natural fruit and spice extracts - with no need for nitrates to enhance appearance, texture, and flavour.

You may also find "uncured bacon," on Amazon and in some stores. This type of bacon uses naturally-occurring nitrates (commonly from celery) instead of the artificial kind. Curing bacon this way (it's not technically “UN-cured”) is considered preferable to using artificial nitrates because vegetables also tend to contain a lot of vitamin C, which seems to prevent the conversion of nitrates to nitrosamines, the cancer-causing substance.

However, bacon also contains large amounts of sodium and fat, so it will not be making the list of "healthy foods" anytime soon.

So enjoy the BLT without the bacon - just lettuce, tomato, and mayo. And we won't even get started on the mayo.




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