Nitrite Idiocy
Saturday evening, I read a really dipshitty and wrong article by William Neuman in The New York Times on nitrates ("If there is no such thing as a healthy hot dog, how do you limit the damage at this weekend's weenie roast?").
Ridiculous.
I tweeted links to a few pieces with the truth about nitrites:
@amyalkon Why I don't worry about the nitrites in a hot dog: http://bit.ly/kGhEz9 & http://bit.ly/dvl2V
Additionally, Michael Ruhlman blogs about the "'No Nitrites Added' Hoax," with products (like pricey bacon at Trader Joe's) trumpeting that on the package.
Of course, I buy cheap bacon at Costco or the supermarket (in bulk if it's on sale), and try to get the Oscar Mayer low sodium bacon if it's on sale because it tastes great (and any bacon generally has enough sodium to salt a suburban road in every package).
Ruhlman lays out the reason behind my money-saving choice:
Please, if someone can tell me what is wrong with nitrates (in green vegetables) and nitrites (in curing salts and in our bodies, a powerful antimicrobial agent in our saliva, for instance), I invite them to do so here. In the 70's there were studies finding that at high temps, they could form nitrosamines, cancer causing compounds. I don't disagree, but burnt things containing nitrite are bitter and unpleasant so we're not likely to crave them in harmful quatities.Aspirin is not bad for you, right? Helps with a morning head and achy joints. It's even taken for its heart benefits. But eat enough of it and it's toxic.
The fact is, most nitrate we consume comes from vegetables. Nitrate we consume coverts to nitrite in our body, which is a anti-microbial agent in our guts. Sodium nitrite in bacon cures the bacon (more info in my safety concerns for charcutepaloozians) and then converts to nitric oxide, so, while I'm not chemist, I have heard others suggest that you're not actually consuming any nitrite by the time the bacon gets to you. Again, almost all the nitrate and nitrite in your body comes from veggies. It's an anti-oxidant. Studies are coming out now saying it's good for the heart.
A study in the Journal of Food Protection put it this way: "Since 93% of ingested nitrite comes from normal metabolic sources, if nitrite caused cancers or was a reproductive toxicant, it would imply that humans have a major design flaw."
Bacon is one of the greatest foods on the planet, but the food marketers are going to figure out a way to make you buy their bacon. So what they do is use celery powder and celery juice (note the asterisk on the label above) as their nitrate source (celery is loaded with nitrate) and are therefore are allowed to say no nitrites added. Why go to the trouble? Because we don't know any better. Can we really be this stupid? I have only one word to say on this beyond an emphatic yes.
Ruhlman via @MelissaMcEwen
I've lived through the saccharin, Alar, and multiple E. Coli, salmonella, etc. scares.
The latest one in Europe had some government official saying [paraphrase] "We need to get rid of all E. Coli." He obviusly has no clue that he has E. Coli living in his gut.
I'm at the point I don't listen to 90% of the "science" that some media outlet picks up on any given day. That blathering blond doesn't have a clue how much of what bubbles to the top has a money agenda behind it.
Jim P. at July 4, 2011 5:19 AM
Sure hot dogs are bad, if you eat several hundred of them.
And Jim P., I remember saccharin. It'll give you cancer if you drink a few hundred Frescas a day.
Thanks for the links, Amy. I sent them to my sister who had mentioned the NYTimes article. Take some questionable (or laughable) science and scare people, that's how you get readers. Or votes.
DrCos at July 4, 2011 6:05 AM
Thanks for linking to my post, Amy!
There's SO much misinformation. Unfortunately, it seems that dogma, ideology, and politics trump facts - especially when it comes to diet / health / human nutrition.
Peter Ballerstedt at July 4, 2011 6:12 AM
Terrific blog, Peter!
Amy Alkon at July 4, 2011 6:21 AM
I buy the low sodium bacon, store brand. It's cheapest, and I find some bacons too salty for my taste. That's the only reason.
momof4 at July 4, 2011 11:58 AM
We could totally take care of the actual E. Coli problem by accepting that irradiation of a great many food stuffs is a good thing. Low level radiation pretty kills all the bad biologicals on any food. Package it in appropriate plastic, irradiate it, kill the 'germs', and improve shelf life. Total win.
Unfortunately, the Food nutjobs [led by the idiots as the ill-named Center for Science in the Public Interest] are dead set against it.
JorgXMcKie at July 4, 2011 6:01 PM
Oh. And if hotdogs are so bad for you, why aren't all those people in the hot dog eating contests [Today was the big one in NYC, right?] keeling over left and right?
I don't mind what the idiots won't eat for whatever reason, but I wish they'd leave my food alone.
JorgXMcKie at July 4, 2011 6:03 PM
Don't forget mercury. The first scare died out when the Smithsonian tested fish that had been frozen about a century before. They contained the same amount of mercury as the present ones, those which had caused the panic.
However, you can't let a good hysteria go to waste, so the screeching returned a few years later. Haven't heard much about it lately? Just wait.
Bleepless at July 4, 2011 6:22 PM
Likewise, Amy! I appreciate your compliment and your blog. Thank you.
Peter Ballerstedt at July 4, 2011 7:01 PM
We could totally take care of the actual E. Coli problem by accepting that irradiation of a great many food stuffs is a good thing
Or, people could, I dont know, maybe
wash THEIR FUCKING HANDS AFTER TAKING A SHIT?!?!?!?!
The only bad thing about these e coli outbreaks is the people they kill arent the lazy fucktards too fucking stupid to wash their hands and not shit in the feilds that these foods are grown in
lujlp at July 4, 2011 8:50 PM
FOX News was whining about the health effects and bad examples of the hot dog-eating contests. Unbelievable, when they're not harping on every moment of the Casey Anthony trial.
mpetrie98 at July 4, 2011 11:51 PM
Nitrosamines are quite powerful carcinogens...that isn't hysteria. And they can be readily formed from nitrites and high heat.
I don't fret about them, but it is a good practice to avoid charring sodium nitrite preserved foods. Nothing wrong with a grilled dog now and then, but charring is a bad idea...leave them on the edges to cook more slowly. And bacon should always be cooked low and slow in a pan (5-ish on an electric, low on gas).
You're correct that charring tastes bitter and unpleasant....but unfortunately so many people these days don't know any better. They char because they don't know how to cook and its not just a bad taste...it is bad for you.
Mike at July 5, 2011 2:54 AM
Don't buy Ralphs' low sodium, low sugar bacon! It's awful. They sell it for a dollar less than the regular--I guess this is their offering to Michelle and her "nudge" to get everyone except her hubby to eat like a Puritan.
Patricia at July 5, 2011 7:39 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/07/nitrite-idiocy.html#comment-2329420">comment from PatriciaUm, I believe they sold it before Obama ever took office, but it's always kind of amazing to see what people like to blame on the party they don't like. Businesses care about one thing (those that stay in business) and it's things that sell. Ralph's low sodium bacon isn't as good as Oscar-Meyer, but I buy whatever's on sale if I'm in need.
PS Not an Obama fan, by the way.
Amy Alkon
at July 5, 2011 7:43 AM
4 years time served seems like a weak sentence. Regardless though she was given a life judgement by the media, this trial is something she will never escape.
FlamingColt at July 7, 2011 6:18 PM
Casey will never escape the media judgement, even years down the road if she manages to find a shred of normalcy some investigative journalist will track her down for a 10 year / 20 year follow up
GrotesqueDog at July 7, 2011 9:43 PM
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