Pepperoni?

[DWRolfe]

Hello Group! I noticed that many of you include pepperoni in your lists of favorite snacks and I wanted to clarify the question of nitrates. I've just returned from the grocery store where I bought some pepperoni and while the carb and sugar counts were 0, it does include nitrates in the ingredients.

Any knowledge to share regarding this? It's awfully difficult to find ham or bacon without nitrates also.

Do I dare eat pepperoni?? :confused:

P.S. I've found so many recipes and ideas for creating new recipes on this site! Can't wait to do some cooking this weekend. For me, it's all about having things on hand and well stocked. I'm on Day 5 and feeling good! :wave:

[Cinderella]

This is my second time on Atkins. The fisrt time I was on it I lost alot of weight and felt great. I understand that nitrates are not the healthiest thing BUT...I ate cheese with pepperoni almost every night. I was one of my favorite snacks. The one thing I couldn't eat...was pickels. What I'm getting at is...different foods bother different people. I can eat deli meats...but a friend of mine can't. She can live on pickels...and they make me swell like a balloon. If you are finding that you are stalling out with your weight loss...try slicing them...then nuking them to make pepperoni chips. By doing this most of the fat and nitrates are removed.

This is my second time around at this. After a bad accident, then throwing away my smokes...I gained some weight back.

I wish you loads of luck...have fun with this woe!! :cool:

[cimart]

Glad to hear you're still doing ok DW. I know some people won't touch anything with nitrates. I can't help myself, I eat ham, bacon , pastrami and some pepperoni. I tend to go by Atkins' first book (Ilike it better, you can eat more stuff) I am still losing this way, others may not. It really depends on the person. Some don't eat them because nitrates arn't good for you, period, nothing to do with loss. All you can do is try, and see if you stop losing. You might want to keep some nuts on hand. They are a nice quick grab it kinda food. If you get nuts in the shell, you will eat a lot less of them. My favorite are hazelnuts.

Well, good luck!

cimart :)

[Lessara]

Why are nitrates bad? I must have missed that in the book...

[Cinderella]

I couldn't find it in the book..so I looked it up in the dictionary. In a nutshell...Nitrates equal salt. Although I bodies do need salt..I think tooo much may hinder our goals.

[DWRolfe]

The newest Adlkins book recommends staying away from processed meats because they include sugars and nitrates. I dunno. I agree with the earlier post that ultimately it's probably one of those things that each person has to evaluate in terms of it being a trigger.

:daze:

[Cinderella]

I MUST go get this book. I wonder how many other things he changed.

I must also keep in mind that I ate cream, cheese...and tons of salami and pepperoni my first time on this....so did millions of people. We all lost. On the other hand, I guess these are not the healthiest of things to eat..lol. Do you all think he is changing this stuff because of the publicity? It is hard to promote a healthy way of eating when we are allowed deli meats....lol.

Thanks for the heads up!

Cinderella...(worked to hard and under paid)

:roll: :roll: :roll:

[Heath]

I think nitrates are like MSG or sodium. Some people are sensitive, some aren't. A lot of folks have done well with bacon and pepperoni in their diet. If you find you're sensitive to it, then mail me the pepperoni :)

[Bleue]

I'm not positive, but I thought Atkins said to limit nitrates because some studies have shown them to be a carcinogen.

Some information here... don't know anything about the validity of the source. I just googled :)

http://www.theingredientstore.com/foodpreservation/forum1/preservation.pl?read=782

-Bleue

[Kaillean]

Hi Donald,

Nitrates are a suspect carcinogen. I wish I could find a recent article I read that showed you need to consumer a LOT in order for your risk to go up.

I confess I have three slices of bacon for brekkie every day, and have done for nearly a year. I also have pepperoni and other stuff like that on occasion but don't go whole hog with it (pardon the pun).

Certainly doesn't seem to have interfered with the weight loss. As to the dangers, I am tackling one health issue at a time. For now, the bacon stays. I used to go out of my way to find nitrate-free stuff, but don't bother any more. (On a side note - the lower sodium bacon sometimes has no sugar.)

To minimize the nitrate issue - you're advised not to scorch the bacon or get it too crispy. I cook mine in the oven to avoid this, and often will give it a rinse with water midway through cooking. This helps a bit, and doesn't affect the taste at all.

Not sure if that helps at all on your "to pepperoni or not to pepperoni" issue.

:)

[Jeanne Sch]

There is spanking new research that says nitrates might not be as bad as previously thought...in fact they feel it may be beneficial.

[Wenzday]

Woo hoo glad to hear... I think it sfunny when an OLD post like this resurfaces!!!

[KristyC]

I LOVE pepperoni and usually eat it EVERYDAY. I have had no problems with it, nor am I really worried about the nitrates. ;)

[njcowgirl]

pepperoni has never caused me a problem, and i go through spurts where i eat it non stop for days straight.
jeannie

[MyJourney]

I eat pepperoni all the time and dont mind. I have had nitrite free pepperoni Applegate farms brand. They all have sugar in some form. I get whatever the supermarket has around. I look for one with as little junk as possible but they sometimes only have one or 2 brands.

I usually drink lots of water and from what I read about nitrites I am not too worried. I am more concerned about aflatoxin in peanuts.

[GabrielleG]

Wenzday it is super funny isnt it Wenzday I mean Donald actualy started this post when was a nubbie. I think its great becasue it means people are using the search function and bringing back useful information.

Gabrielle

[geminigirl]

This is some great information!! :yay: I, ultimately, will make the decision as to whether I eat it or not, but it's nice to know that others are eating it and not having too many issues. I pretty much have it daily, and let me tell you, it really satisfies cravings for me-I have it with cheese, mushrooms, red onions and green peppers, and a tiny tiny bit of low sugar marinara sauce, and it makes a great little mock pizza. It has been a lifesaver during induction because at one point the thought of eggs, sausage and bacon were making me sick to my stomach.

I think with Atkins it is important to find things that you like/love, and that can satisfy cravings, so that you can make this a WOL you can stick with and be satisfied and content!

[LadyBelle]

I get the turkey pepperoni in the pillow pack, yummy.

The only nitrite free meats I can find come from health food stores and usually cost an arm and a leg. With out sugars and nitrites there are little to no preservatives and the meat will typically go bad much faster.

I decided along the way to choose what I concidered to be the lesser of evils. I now look for sugar free, lower sodium foods and don't worry as much about the nitrites.

[Dodger]

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ0974.html

Background
For centuries, meat has been preserved with salt. At certain levels, salt prevents growth of some types of bacteria that are responsible for meat spoilage. Salt prevents bacterial growth either because of its direct inhibitory effect or because of the drying effect it has on meat (most bacteria require substantial amounts of moisture to live and grow).

As use of salt as a meat preservative spread, a preference developed for certain salts that produced a pink color and special flavor in meat. This is the effect we see in cured meats today. Near the turn of the century it was determined that nitrate, present in some salt, was responsible for this special color and flavor. Still later it was determined that nitrate actually is changed to nitrite by bacterial action during processing and storage and that nitrate itself has no effect on meat color. Today the nitrite used in meat curing is produced commercially as sodium nitrite.


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What Nitrite Does in Meat
Nitrite in meat greatly delays development of botulinal toxin (botulism), develops cured meat flavor and color, retards development of rancidity and off-odors and off-flavors during storage, inhibits development of warmed-over flavor, and preserves flavors of spices, smoke, etc.

Adding nitrite to meat is only part of the curing process. Ordinary table salt (sodium chloride) is added because of its effect on flavor. Sugar is added to reduce the harshness of salt. Spices and other flavorings often are added to achieve a characteristic "brand" flavor. Most, but not all, cured meat products are smoked after the curing process to impart a smoked meat flavor.

Sodium nitrite, rather than sodium nitrate, is most commonly used for curing (although in some products, such as country ham, sodium nitrate is used because of the long aging period). In a series of normal reactions, nitrite is converted to nitric oxide. Nitric oxide combines with myoglobin, the pigment responsible for the natural red color of uncured meat. They form nitric oxide myoglobin, which is a deep red color (as in uncooked dry sausage) that changes to the characteristic bright pink normally associated with cured and smoked meat (such as wieners and ham) when heated during the smoking process.


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Nitrosamines
In the 1970s, newspaper articles discussed the safety of meat products cured with nitrite. Under certain conditions not yet fully understood, the natural breakdown products of proteins known as amines can combine with nitrites to form compounds known as nitrosamines. There are many different types of nitrosamines, most of which are known carcinogens in test animals.

Not all cured meat products contain nitrosamines; when present, they usually are in very minute amounts. According to S.R. Tannenbaum and T.Y. Fan in "Uncertainties about Nitrosamine Formation in and from Foods," proceedings from the Meat Industry Research Conference, University of Chicago, 1973, many variables influence nitrosamine levels: amount of nitrite added during processing, concentrations of amines in meat, type and amounts of other ingredients used in processing, actual processing conditions, length of storage, storage temperatures, method of cooking, and degree of doneness. For example, the USDA now requires adding ascorbic acid (vitamin C) or erythorbic acid to bacon cure, a practice that greatly reduces the formation of nitrosamines.

The effects of heating meat products cured with nitrite have been investigated. The previously cited study, "Effect of Frying and Other Cooking Conditions on Nitrosopyrrolidine Formation in Bacon," by J.W. Pensabene, et al., indicated that when bacon was fried at 210 degrees F for 10 minutes (raw), 210 degrees F for 105 minutes (medium well), 275 degrees F for 10 minutes (very light), or 275 degrees F for 30 minutes (medium well), no conclusive evidence of nitrosopyrrolidine could be found. But when bacon was fried at 350 degrees F for 6 minutes (medium well), 400 degrees F for 4 minutes (medium well), or 400 degrees F for 10 minutes (burned), nitrosopyrrolidine formation was conclusively found at 10, 17, and 19 parts per billion. Thus, well done or burned bacon probably is potentially more hazardous than less well done bacon. Bacon cooked by microwave has less nitrosamine than fried bacon. Consumers should cook bacon properly.

The same study and one by W. Fiddler, et al. (J. Food Sci., 39:1070, 1974) have shown that fat cook-out or drippings usually contain more nitrosopyrrolidine than the bacon contains.

It is unknown at what levels, if any, nitrosamines are formed in humans after they eat cured meat products, or what constitutes a dangerous level in meat or in humans. Nitrosamines are found very infrequently in all cured products except overcooked bacon, as discussed above.

Feeding studies documented in the "GRAS" report using meats containing high levels of nitrite showed no evidence of carcinogenesis. However, nitrosamines still are considered a definite potential hazard to human health.

Bacon manufacturers are under a USDA surveillance program whereby bacon is sampled, cooked, and tested for nitrosamines. Levels above a certain maximum amount are not permitted.

Although nitrite is a controversial food additive, recent studies indicate that nitrite can inhibit the production of malonaldehyde, which may be toxic to living cells. In small quantities (yet at 1,000 times the levels of nitrosamines), malonaldehyde frequently is found in food products that turn rancid. Wieners, ham, bacon, and corned beef resist the accumulation of malonaldehyde due to their nitrite content.


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[MickD]

Had the topping off a pizza last night. Pepperoni & cheese. Still lost weight. Good stuff.

[LadyBelle]

Wieners, ham, bacon, and corned beef resist the accumulation of malonaldehyde due to their nitrite content

It's not the nitrites in those foods that bug me. I loved corned beef, but I think 1 serving is something like 50% of the RDA sodium. The ham I'm scared of sugars, and with the weiners I'm just scared in general unless they are 100% beef, pork or poultry :)

If you really need a salt fix I saw some salt pork in the store. 1 serving was around 85% RDA of sodium for the day. That is the US RDA which is almost double the UK RDA for sodium.