Whoops, the record has got stuck again – on nitrites in bacon. We’ve been getting quite a lot (by our standards) of comments, questions and complaints about our use of nitrites in cured meats. So, in the hope of putting matters straight and hopefully your minds at ease, I thought I’d give you a short version of our position…
Complete clarity is hard when the WHO and the UK’s FSA take diametrically opposite positions but having sat in on an FSA seminar on the matter and witnessed the pressure applied by the big meat processors, I think it’s most likely that the WHO have got it right and nitrites can increase the risk of some cancers; mainly bowel. I say ‘can’ because when I looked into it, which was a few years ago, the evidence seemed to point towards the risk being far greater in meats cooked at high temperatures. Most of the studies have involved feeding mice on commercial frankfurters which are an uncured product where nitrites are added mainly to ‘fix’ the pink colour after cooking. Often, they’re then sterilised at around 125degC – a far higher temperature than, for example, fresh ham, which is cooked to 72degC. I think that alone is reason to question the WHO’s 18% increase in cancer risk if you eat 50gms of cured or processed meats every day – if not whether nitrites are carcinogenic.
Going back to the beginning; nitrates, in the form of saltpetre (potassium nitrate) have been used in curing meat for thousands of years. Salting preserves and some salt has higher levels of saltpetre. Where that was the case, the cured meats were firmer, had a more pronounced umami (savoury) flavour and kept their pink colour after cooking. Not surprisingly, they were considered superior, and hams etc from areas with access to salt with high levels of saltpetre came to the fore. Sometime in the Middle Ages they began to add saltpetre but, to work, the nitrate combines with naturally occurring bacteria to convert to nitrites which are responsible for the colour and flavour. Scientists discovered that the conversion was slow and unreliable so during the early part of the twentieth century, they started adding nitrites directly. The industry claims that it inhibits clostridia botulinum but that has been largely debunked. The real reason they love it is because it dramatically speeds up the curing process and speed means much more money. Surprise surprise!
There have been rumblings about the safety of nitrites for over thirty years and, as usual, Scandinavian countries have adopted the practical approach of cutting it out where not necessary and lowering permitted levels where it is. Denmark, for example, has an upper limit of an entirely manageable, 60ppm (40% of the UK’s). In Italy, it’s no longer allowed in Prosciutto de Parma but although that might sound commendable, it’s a bit of a lowest hanging fruit because Parma ham is eaten ‘crudo’ so they don’t have to worry serving an unappealing slice of grey/brown meat. Most of the kickback against a total ban has come from bacon eating nations like us, USA, Australia and Eire. The Irish do love a fry.
As has been pointed out in the press, there are alternative, non-nitrite, plant extract based concoctions which, with salt, give an end result that, like bacon and ham, stays pink after cooking. They’re generally patented and their IP protected up to the eyeballs and not available to small players like us. But they are becoming more common and, if we can, we will give them a try. From what I’ve seen, they involve multi-needle injectors and added water which will compromise the end product. After all these years, we’re not going to put our name on bad bacon.
So that leaves us with the Danish route of minimising the risk by using as little nitrites as possible – or if possible, none at all. That’s what we’ve always done and will continue to do, only more rigorously. We’ve always complied with organic standards (half the conventional levels) and we’ve lowered the levels. By complete coincidence, Brindisa (yes this newsletter does seem to be all about Brindisa) just sent us a sample of their smoked pancetta – cured with salt and nothing else. It’s a properly cured product (losing 20% of its weight in the process) and, I’d imagine because of the time involved, it held its dark red colour when cooked. We were impressed. The only problems were the fact that it’s not made from free range pigs and the price. Somewhere north of £20 a kg seems, to us slipper hunting old timers, like a lot for streaky bacon with a fancy name. It’s perfect for cooking with – in all those bean stews etc but, possibly, a touch dry for frying. It certainly crisps up well. So we thought we’d give it a go. It is available in thin ‘pancetta’ form, thick salt belly pork slices (ideal for the bean recipes above) and lardons. Given the weight loss, I don’t think we’ll be able to produce it any cheaper but if you like it, we’ll certainly give it our best shot.