Skip the Baloney: Typical Processed Meats Linked to Cancer

Parents gearing up to pack school lunches for their kids should be aware of a study on nitrates, nitrites, and cancer. These preservatives are often used in processed meats like bacon,

The National Institutes of Health reported on a study in Cancer (August 2010). U.S. researchers had analyzed data from 300,000 men and women. People whose diets had the highest levels of dietary nitrite (from all sources, not just from meats) and those whose diets had the highest amounts of nitrate plus nitrite from processed meats, were almost 30% more likely to develop

Previous research has linked consumption of red and processed meats to increased risk of several different types of cancer. What’s in the kid-popular Oscar Mayer Balogna? Mechanically separated chicken, port, water, corn syrup, contains less than 2% of salt, sodium lactate, flavor, sodium phosphates, autolyzed yeast, sodium diacetate, sodium ascorbate, sodium nitrite, dextrose, extractives of paprika, potassium phosphate, sugar, potassium chloride.

Even without the nitrites, does it make any sense to serve this to kids? Applegate Farms offers a better choice.

Seems like a pretty simple choice.