This is one of my favorite to-go lunches, hard salami (or summer sausage) and cheese. However, most brands of hard salami are loaded with sugar, nitrates, other preservatives and flavorings (a potential source of MSG). Read the ingredient labels and find a brand that does not contain ingredients on the list of foods/ingredients to avoid.
I like the Organic Prairie brand that Whole Foods sells. Let's compare this with the ingredients in Boar's Head salami, a brand that most people trust as better quality because they market themselves as a better quality product. Remember, you must not blindly trust any brand - read ingredient labels always and learn how the ingredients they use are raised and processed.
Boar's Head Genoa Salami Ingredient List:
Organic Prairie Summer Sausage Ingredient List:
I think by seeing these two ingredient lists that the difference in quality based on their ingredients is obvious . For this lunch that Jon and I took to our homeschool coop, we had the summer sausage, cheese slices (remember to buy white cheeses), crackers and granny smith apples from our apple tree. Celery or carrot sticks would also be a great addition to this lunch. We packed the lunch with an ice pack because the Organic Prairie Summer Sausage is uncured and required refrigeration after opening.
your organic sausages still contain nitrates in the form of celery juice powder. nitrates aren't always bad and are naturally occurring (like in celery) and are an essential component in any charcuterie products. check out this study by the University of Wisconsin http://www.beet-it.nl/sites/default/files/Human%20safety%20controversies%20surrounding%20nitrate%20and%20nitrite%20in%20the%20diet%20(1).pdf
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for pointing this out and for the link to the study! In deed, the celery juice powder does result in the development of natural occurring nitrates, used to cure the meat. I think that the bottom line is always quality. When cheap, man-processed and synthetic ingredients are used, one needs to be very careful. For example, salt and fat. Good quality sea salt and good quality fats are essential in our diets, whereas man-processed 'table' salt and hydrogenated fats are very harmful to man's health.
ReplyDeleteConcerning meat curing, I think the following from the Weston Price website is insightful:
"THE BACON CURE
Could it be our ancestors were right after all? That today’s new, improved and supposedly healthy versions of bacon are not? The traditional way to make bacon is dry cured through hand rubbing with a mixture of herbs, sugars, salt, and the sodium nitrite curing salts. Vitamin C in the mix helps form the nitrosylheme pigment that gives cured meats their wonderful red color, and, as will be explained shortly, helps ensure nitrites convert to healthy nitric oxide and not carcinogenic nitrosamines.
Traditional producers leave the bacon to cure for anywhere from a day to a month before slow-smoking it over applewood, hickory or other wood fires, generally from one to three days. The extended curing time intensifies the pork flavor and shrinks the meat so that the bacon doesn’t shrivel and spatter as it cooks. Flavor can vary quite a bit from producer to producer, and is determined by the ingredients of the cure, the method of smoking, and the timing. The age, gender, and breed of the pig, as well as its time outdoors, forage and feed all influence the final flavor of the bacon as well as its potential for health benefits or risks.
DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS
Supermarket bacon may also use sodium nitrite, but not in a traditional way. Instead, manufacturers opt for fast and cheap methods by which inferior quality factory-farmed meat is pumped and plumped with a liquid cure solution that includes sodium erythrobate and sodium nitrite, along with “liquid smoke,” spices and flavorings heavy in MSG. After “curing” for a few hours, the pork is sprayed with more “liquid smoke” and heated until a smoke-like flavor permeates the meat. The pork is then quickly chilled, machine-pressed into a uniform shape, sliced, and packaged for sale. Pumped and plumped bacon may look big in the package, but shrinks, shrivels and spatters when cooked.
“Liquid smoke,” a product heavily favored by big food manufacturers, is produced by burning wood chips or sawdust, then condensing the smoke into solids or liquids and dissolving it in water. It is being investigated by the European Food Safety Authority for safety as a food flavoring because of evidence of genotoxicity and cytotoxicity. Indeed, one study suggests liquid smoke is more carcinogenic than cigarette smoke concentrate.38-40 "
Thank you again for your excellent comment! Mary