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RSS FeedHarold McGee’s monthly column in the Times yesterday addressed the color of meat and chemicals that affect it. I was delighted to have my intuition confirmed on the issue of organic hotdogs (which I’d commented on way back at Megnut).
“In the 1970s, the nitrite and nitrate in cured meats fell under the suspicion that they might cause cancer,” McGee writes. “Later research showed that we get far more of these chemicals from vegetables like celery, spinach and lettuce. Their abundant nitrate comes from the soil and is turned into nitrite by bacteria living in our mouths.”
He goes on to note that USDA forbids anything with nitrate or nitrite in it to be labeled organic, yet hotdogs that use celery juice CAN be labeled organic. Apparently the USDA is not aware that celery juice is a bountiful source of nitrate. Shouldn’t they be?
Also good information in McGee’s story on, among other things, the color of dry-cured hams that remain rosy even though they truly do use no nitrates or nitrites.
Harold McGee – the original Chemi-Homemade. Maybe they’ll put him on the Food Network or at least give him an award on April 15th
I did not know this! Glad I feel better now about my cured meats.
Now we need Harold (or Herve This) to do some experiments to see exactly how much celery juice and in what concentration you’d need to get the same effect as Instacure No. 2…fascinating topic.
Yes all of this is familiar to me.
But permit me to play devil’s advocate for a moment and suggest that most people eat far more nitrate and nitrate via meat than they consume from vegetables. And because the USDA must protect the American consumer based on what he consumes most often, the warnings seem to make sense: too much nitrate and trite consumption is implicated in multiple GI cancers.
But of course you were commenting on labeling practices. And since I do not know how common it is to use vegetable based nitrate-trite in processed foods, it is a little weird that only foods that contain man made nitrate and nitrite) salts are prohibited from being labeled “organic”
And Tags. Molto respeto. But you can dis me and I won’t flinch but you will not abuse Harold McGee in my ken and get away with it unremarked. Some things you cannot do
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Holy sh-t. I just read Harlod’s NYT article wherein he states that some hot dogs that get the “organic” label are treated with celery extract. This is too funny. No wonder you posted on this!
Please dismiss everything I wrote above -except the warning to Tags
. I’m going to have to sleep on this one. I’m not sure how much irony I can take at this hour.
Wow! I never knew about nitrates in veggies. Kind of ironic with the labeling. It just seems downright weasely to imply “no nitrates” are added when using celery powder adds nitrates.
I guess I’m not surprised. I believe that the USDA (previously?) allowed companies to list MSG as “spices”. I bet celery powder is under the same category as “spices”.
Looks like it all comes down to marketing… I had a debate with my brother about juices that are “100% juice”. My points was that concentrated apple juice or pear juice is just as bad as adding sugar or HFCS. His point was it’s juice so it’s healthier.
Marketing vs. knowledge. Hopefully, knowledge will prevail.
Marketing wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t becoming synonomous with deception.
Margarine painted as healthier than butter to the point that some people still believe it after all the revelations about trans fats.
Claims for fruit juice that are correct right up until the time they’re pasteurized and concentrated, then sold.
Milk from happy cows from California. So, is it the cramped quarters or the corn feed that gives them gas and other unnatural discomforts that is the source of their merriment?
And, as for Harold McGee on the Food Network, I could just see their sponsors lining up to be exposed as frauds by plain and simple science. They’d be at least as happy as the California cows.
BTW, Chef delG, if you’re shopping for concrete boots, I wear an 11 1/2
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The nitrate/nitrite issue is just a subset of the more generalized fear of chemicals in our food. Of course, everything we eat is made of chemicals — whether synthetic and added at some point in the production process, or naturally occurring in the food itself. It’s really just a fear of the unknown — and, for most of us who slept through high school chemistry, the entire subject is terra incognita.
However (as in the old joke about some paranoia being justifiable), there are SOME chemicals about which we should be concerned — whether natural or artificial — but nitrates/nitrites may not be among them.
It’s more anger than fear at this point, because profits have become paramount and people feel helpless as companies regularly put them at risk without telling them the whole story (or just plain deceive them.)
Nitrates/Nitrites have been a hot debate for a long time now (as mentioned in the artical and by Mr. Ruhlman above) but if they cause cancer or not is still a hot topic.
There will be two sides to everything, every debate but what needs to be looked at in my humble opinion is history of use. In the 1960’s (i believe) we used processed Nitrates/Nitrites instead of using Prague Powder due to the fact it was healthier and easier to create/use in the states.
The fact of the matter is weve been using Nitrates/Nitrites for so long now its standard operating proceedure. I salute those trying to find a healthier and safer means but I also worry with the fact were doing everything in our power to make what might be bad food look good to sell.
In this case at least I think setting more strict guidelines of use and how it can be used is important.
We live in a comercial society, and as Tags said:
“people feel helpless as companies regularly put them at risk without telling them the whole story”
We as consumers need to be the first and last line of defense in regards to what we put into our own bodies. Blaming society, Commercial powerhouse companies, or even the government for what we eat is a waste of energy.
Read labels, ask questions, and most importantly research. The amount of information the internet can provide if we look in the right places can help us make the better choices.
and as far as putting McGee on “Das Network”, Im not so sure the man would agree to it.. but if he did I hope he turns the thing around from the inside out.
What’s most frightening are meat counters passing off “fresh frozen” Yellowfin or Ahi Tuna as sashimi grade when they’re anything but that – loaded with pinkish red dye. Selling this to those that don’t know better is dangerous.
quite simply – if you do not use nitrites in a dry-cured sausage, you must, I think by law, use a heat kill step – essentially cook the product before sale. A true dry cured product is never cooked and must use nitrite. You would need to be a compulsive salami chomper to get cancer from the stuff, and then I would be more worried about your heart! Eat less, eat better.
Your post’s very good. I like it.
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Glad you are here telling it like it is. I just ate some hotdogs that had no nitrate or nitrite except from celery powder” and they were good, but I was suspicious. And guess what? If the meat is pink, and the pinkness is not from being raw, it is because of nitrate and/or nitrite. And guess what else? If nitrate is bad for us, as you said, so is celery and many other vegetables. So eat your vegetables, America! And enjoy your hot dog.
Glad to know about the yellowfin or ahi tuna being sold as sashimi grade, being unsafe. But since I consider ALL tuna (and other large, carnivorous, and long-lived ocean fish) to be unsafe due to the mercury, PCBE, etc buildup, what evil marketing schemes apply to tuna, miss me.
I like the information here but I could do without the flawed opinion. Do you know what organic means? It does not mean healthy (though most organic foods are healthier), it doesn’t mean good for kids or nutritious. It means natural without added man made ingredients. There is such a thing as organic tobacco, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you. Nitrites occur naturally therefore a natural ingredient containing them can technically be organic. The truth is, levels of nitrates and nitrites should be required in nutritional information. Then the “I eat twigs for my health” people and the “I slather my intestines with Crisco” people can shut up and reasonable people like me can just know the truth.