Processed Meat and Cancer:What To Remember

The most important thing to remember is,it isn't the meat itself that raises cancer risk;it's the sodium nitrite-the chemical most commonly used to preserve the meat's color and freshness.Sodium nitrite can in turn form the carcinogen known as nitrosamine-especially when cooked at high heat,such as in frying or flame broiling,and subjected to our stomach acid.This has long been known with regard to colon cancer.The new study from Britain mentioned below now links processed meat to pancreatic cancer risk as well.
Completely understanding the complex chemistry of food additives probably isn't in the future of most of us.What we all can understand is,an extra risk,however small,may have been resulted in by their usage.
Probably few people will totally change their diets over as small an extra risk as this.They may cut back a little,though.In any event,the food industry needs to get on this and start researching a substitute for sodium nitrite,if it isn't already doing so.They owe it to their customers and themselves.