Processed meats, like ham and bacon, are a hot topic for us, cause … well, it’s yum! But these types of meats predominantly use nitrates/nitrites as their main preservative.

This is an incredibly harsh preservative that once in your bloodstream, has the potential to be highly carcinogenic.  You can also add to the potential list of side effects shortness of breath, asthma, lack of energy, dizziness, headaches, rapid pulse, nausea, vomiting, hyperactivity, behavioural issues and is prohibited in foods for infants and young children.  Sounds nasty huh?!

Let’s be clear though, nitrates/nitrites can naturally occur in fruits and vegetables, this is not what we are talking about here.  We are talking about the synthetically created version that is added to processed meats to extend shelf life and to make them look vibrant in colour.

So, is there an alternative you can buy so you don’t have to give it up altogether?

These days smallgood manufacturers are starting to get on board with our needs and provide products that are low, or sometimes totally free, from nitrates/nitrites, but as always, we still need to be super careful and not rely on what’s written on the front of the packet.

WATCH OUT FOR…

On the front of the packet it says:

✅ 100% natural ingredients
✅ no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives
✅ no added nitrites
✅ gluten free
✅ 97% fat free

All the right buzz words you want to see on the front of a packet, yeah?  But then you turn it over and have a read of the ingredients.  shows 2 x Yeast Extracts and Flavour!

Yeast Extract
This is a form of glutamate and those who are sensitive to MSG react in the same way to yeast extract as they do to MSG.

Flavour
What is flavour? You don’t go to the supermarket and purchase ‘flavour’.  The problem with flavour is that it’s a proprietary term companies use to bundle ingredients together without having to disclose them to us. This means that we never know what we are really eating. Yep, it’s sneaky! There could be any number of additives in there or it could be completely fine, we just don’t know and that’s what bothers us, there’s no transparency.

So, from what was seemingly great on the front of the packet reveals a very different story once the packet is turned over.

A BETTER CHOICE

Ingredients
Pork (90%), Water, Salt, Potato Starch, Cane Sugar, Vegetable Extract, Vegetable Fibre, Fruit Extract Naturally Wood Smoked.

You can source this from your local Woolworths supermarket and buying it in a leg ham portion like this instead of the sliced ham packet version means there are fewer ingredients which is a good thing, plus it is a lot more economical as well.

The only things we are a little wary of in the ingredients lists are the extracts and vegetable fibre as it’s not totally transparent as to how these are extracted/processed.  Having said that, it is a far better choice than the one above, in our opinion anyway.  We often slice this up and freeze it in portions so that you have ham on hand whenever you need it.

THE BEST CHOICE

Talk to your local butcher or go to your local farmer’s market and see if they make nitrate/nitrite-free ham and bacon.  This is what we have done here in Hobart and we have been able to source beautiful, top quality produce.  Now that we have found our preferred butchers we go to them regularly and they supply us with additive and preservative free ham, sausages, silverside and bacon. And the best part is we are supporting local businesses and farmers, right here in Tassie.

We’re not going to lie, it is a little more expensive, but this is a trade-off we are willing to make. We have shifted our mindset for these types of foods to be every-now-and-then, treat foods, not all-the-time foods.  At the end of the day, our health is not worth the risk.

Jo & Tracey x