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The French are banning bacon (and sausages)!

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    The French are banning bacon (and sausages)!

    (a serious topic, despite the attention-grabbing post title)

    from todays news:

    source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ch-authorities
    French health authorities say they have confirmed a link between nitrates added to processed meat and colon cancer, dealing a blow to the country’s prized ham and cured sausage industry.

    Nitrates are added to a range of food products to improve their shelf life and flavour, and to help give pork-based products their pink hue.

    France is one of the world’s biggest producers of cold cuts, known as charcuterie, which are often consumed as snacks or with early evening drinks.
    The government immediately announced it would launch an action plan to reduce the use of the additives later this year.
    "It is about limiting their use to the strictly necessary," said a joint statement from the health and agricultural ministers. "The reduction must be done in a balanced way that guarantees food security for the consumer."
    The warning applied to all processed meats, from the bacon eaten in large quantities in the US and Britain, to Italian salami, Spanish chorizo, German bratwurst and French charcuterie.


    Curious how this will affect smaller craft sausageries vs the mass market meat producers
    Last edited by WillTravelForFood; July 12, 2022, 09:19 PM.

    #2
    I love those meats but I already am trying to only have them in moderation.

    Comment


    • WillTravelForFood
      WillTravelForFood commented
      Editing a comment
      We all are. But still….

    • smokin fool
      smokin fool commented
      Editing a comment
      Agreed, anything with nitrates make me bristle but in this day and age they're hard to get away from.

    #3
    I have a pork belly in my freezer. Maybe I should smoke it but not cure it and see how it turns out?

    Comment


      #4
      I'm good, I only use NITRITES.

      Comment


      • scottranda
        scottranda commented
        Editing a comment
        This was my thought too!

      #5
      In order to avoid the nitrates, read your labels. I get the worst heartburn from commercial processed food now.
      ex: Nueske’s cherrywood bacon is no nitrate. so this is my store bought bacon of choice.

      Granted, you will have to pry a Portillo’s Vienna hot dog out of my cold dead hands, but I prepare for it. 🌭💕

      Or make your own charc-bacon at home in small batches.

      Comment


      • IowaGirl
        IowaGirl commented
        Editing a comment
        Unfortunately, you're still getting bacon with nitrite in it due to the celery juice they use as a "natural flavor." This is an increasingly common way to get around having to list that nasty nitrite on the ingredients list while still including nitrite to cure the bacon.
        Last edited by IowaGirl; July 13, 2022, 06:53 AM.

      • Spinaker
        Spinaker commented
        Editing a comment
        The marketing teams get people on this all the time. Check out this article by Meathead touching on the subject.
        Nitrites and nitrites appear naturally in foods, and are added to many foods. Are they dangerous? Recent research is enlightening.


        Most of it is a marketing ploy in hopes of slipping through the cracks. Much like Kosher meats, which is neither cleaner, more humane or better in anyway.

      #6
      "The government said a ban was not justified after Anses said that, based on French people's consumption habits, 99% of the population did not exceed the permissible daily doses for all exposures to nitrites or nitrates." - Reuters

      Comment


      • WillTravelForFood
        WillTravelForFood commented
        Editing a comment
        The 99% are missing out on flavor

      #7
      Of course most of the stuff in the US labeled "un-cured" contains celery juice or something else fermented to produce the nitrates. I think there was a labeling law to try and fix this.

      Comment


      #8
      What recent scientific studies changed their mind? References?

      Comment


        #9
        It only affects the French, I presume! I’m good then!

        Comment


        • RonB
          RonB commented
          Editing a comment
          Oui!

        #10
        Everything is bad for you in one way or another

        Comment


          #11
          We all gotta die of something...
          Here for a good time, not a long time..

          Comment


            #12
            Originally posted by WillTravelForFood View Post
            Nitrates are added to a range of food products to improve their shelf life and flavour, and to help give pork-based products their pink hue.
            So, is that distinctive pink hue inherently desirable? Or have we become conditioned to look for it from eating the delicious nitrate laden products all our lives?

            Comment


              #13
              We need to listen to "Big Brother"?
              There is no point to allow enjoying life until we die.
              Anyway, there is uncured processed meats.

              Ban Celery too.
              Well, you don’t. You just replace the source of the nitrite. Celery has a very high concentration of natural nitrate, and treating celery juice with a bacterial culture produces nitrite. The concentrated juice can then be used to produce "no nitrite added" processed meat.

              Happy BBQ to all.

              Comment


              • jfmorris
                jfmorris commented
                Editing a comment
                My wife eats LOTS of celery. Yet she things I should not eat cured meats...

              #14
              All things in moderation, as the old adage goes.

              Unless you are consuming nitrate/nitrite laden food in huge excess, I just don't think there is a health issue for us to worry about. What bothers me more is what IowaGirl and Polarbear777 brought up - how so many people reach for "uncured bacon" and "uncured" pepperoni and other meats these days, which is so deceptively labeled and marketed. It is cured, with nitrates, in the form of celery juice, which contains naturally occurring nitrates. Using celery juice or just sprinkling the nitrates on directly leads to the same result, but folks buying it think it is different and somehow "safer" to consume.

              Attjack I would make your bacon the way you always do. Just don't eat all the bacon at once! . I've smoked and grilled sliced pork belly, and its nothing like bacon. Or split it, and do half as pork belly burnt ends and half as bacon. Or make some Asian-inspired pork belly creation.

              Comment


              • WayneT
                WayneT commented
                Editing a comment
                This gets to the crux of the article. Reduce consumption to what level? Give us some stats to sink our teeth into, not just reported evidence of a link to disease at some undisclosed level of intake.

              • bbqLuv
                bbqLuv commented
                Editing a comment
                Bacon is healthier if you twist it into canes, and then cook it up the way you like it.
                Candied bacon is even healthier, protein, fats, and carbs in each bite.

              #15
              Check this article out. Meathead touches on this very thing.

              New Data About Nitrites, Nitrates and Cured Meats

              IMHO, it is all marketing. If you do your research, you will see through the tricks they try to play. Much like "Low-Fat" being better for you. Or "Sugar Free" being replaced with artificial sweeteners. (Not even gonna dive into the ploy that is Kosher meats)

              As I see it, either eat cured meats or don't. Here is another idea.........moderation. If you eat them in moderation, you are fine. Just like everything else in life, for the most part, take it easy and don't over do it. Anyone else getting tired of stuff being "banned" cause people can't figure this out?

              If I wanna die eating bacon, so be it. That is my choice and I will make it if I want too. But you ain't takin' my bacon'!

              Comment


              • bbqLuv
                bbqLuv commented
                Editing a comment
                " Moderation", how do you know what moderation is unless you overindulge.

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