Curing meat with salt preserves the meat from spoilage. Meat packers use salts to inhibit bacteria growth and to remove most of the water from the meat. The bacteria responsible for spoilage require large amounts of water, so curing with salts inhibits the bacteria growth. The original salt used for curing was normal table salt, but over the years, practices have changed. Current methods make use of sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite to preserve a pink color in the meat and to add flavor.
Deli Meats
To provide a pleasing color and some added flavor, the addition of potassium nitrite to most deli meats sold in the United States is used. The potassium nitrite provides the typical pink color seen in most deli meats. The addition of potassium nitrite to these meats is not the only salt used. Most products still use sodium chloride to add flavor and sugar to cut the sharp taste of the salt.
Baby Foods
In 1995, the World Health Organization proclaimed that nitrites presented a health risk in foods for infants and babies up to the age of 3 months. There was a period when baby food manufacturers in the United States added nitrites to their baby foods. They did it because it made the foods look more appealing. Since that time, due to public outcry, the use of nitrites has ceased in baby foods in the United States. In Canada, however, there is no statute that precludes the use of nitrites in baby foods. With the free trade environment in North America, imported baby foods still appear on your local market and grocers shelves. Check the labels on all of the foods that you buy to ensure they are safe from harmful food additives.
Uncooked Meats
Uncooked meat that you purchase at your local butcher shop or supermarket unless specified probably contains potassium nitrite to help provide a pleasing color to the meat. Turkey, beef and pork are typical candidates for this treatment. These appear as favorite breakfast or picnic foods such as hot dogs, ham, bacon and lunch meat. Potassium nitrite undergoes a chemical reaction when exposed to high temperatures, such as when they are cooked, and convert to nitrosamines in the presence of secondary amines. The members of this class of chemicals are carcinogens. Nitrates used in the curing process of processed meats easily convert to nitrite, which is another known cancer-forming chemical.
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