Eades referenced this Junkfood science blog from July which I don't remember reading. WOW. I searched our site and I don't see any reference to Szwarc's piece so I thought I would post it.

It's worth a look if you haven't seen it.

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com...bacon-make.html

I don't know if that particular post got attention here, but certainly there is a plethora of research on nitrates and nitrites showing they are not a problem, some of which has been posted here.

This gets into one of my pet peeves with LC diet books -- the authors went against the grain in their macronutrient recommendations but they repeat the same tired, worn out, unsubstantiated recommendations that all the other "health" books recommend -- avoiding nitrates, aspartame, taking particular supplements not proven to have any effect or proven to have an effect only on the very rare person who has a deficiency. Same with proposing that to get the full benefit of low carb eating one must also eat organic foods and grass fed beef -- there is *no* evidence it makes any difference at all.

Thanks for sharing very interesting article...Bru
Bacon for lunch!

I used the search feature on this website and checked posts as far back as 05. Mostly "we" are concerned nitrates. Szwarc's piece really nailed it for me. I didn't realize that nitrates appear in insignificant numbers in processed meats compared to what we see in vegetables and that there's evidence that they are good for you. For me, it was being a virgin all over again - er, umm, well maybe I should say it was like reading Enig for the first time.

First of all, let me just say that I love bacon and on most days I don't consider my kids to have had a good breakfast unless it includes bacon.

But having said that, I was annoyed that the author glossed over the question of nitrosamines:
From Wikipedia

Of course, the "citation needed" made me laugh - they can't prove it! But it does point out a difference between eating bacon and eating celery - who fries their celery?

The best part about that, of course, is it proves salami is healthier than spinach.

The article reminded me of this crazy thing about baby food - there was a big industry tactic to get people to only feed spinach and carrots from special "low-nitrate" baby food jars to their kids. Because you wouldn't want your kids to get "blue baby syndrome" from fresh vegetables!

I think there is a lot of misinformation out there. The "blue baby shydrome" only affects infants (generally under the age of 6 months) who have NOT started eating solid foods. Once solid foods are introduced to their diet, their stomach starts producing hydrochloric acid and nitrates are no longer a problem. (the increased acidity kills off the bacteria in the stomach that can cause the problem).

Almost all cases of "blue baby syndrome" come from well water with nitrate values over 10 times the recommended levels. Of course, the baby then needs to be on formula using that well water and not be eating solid foods. I think Iowa with it's huge agricultural base has had two cases. Not as common as people like to think.

zodea

It just goes to show you how ridiculous these scare tactics are. It should be obvious to everyone that pureed spinach in a jar in the supermarket is not any healthier than fresh spinach. But that kind of thinking is what gives us the "American Paradox" - how the people who are most obsessed with health food are also the least healthy.