The year-end aroma of cured meats fills the air, with sausages and cured pork being festive foods. However, cured products contain nitrites, raising cancer concerns. Yet, cured meats have long been a symbol of holidays, and completely avoiding them can diminish the festive spirit. The key is how to consume them.
Bian Huawei, Deputy Director of the Nutrition Department at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, says that since cured meats contain nitrites, the only way to reduce nitrite intake is to eat less of them, not treat them as regular dishes, or use them as a substitute for fresh ingredients. Furthermore, the dangers of nitrites are more related to the production process and how long the cured meat is stored before consumption.
Homemade Cured Meats
Use more salt and let it sit for more than two weeks
While various brands of cured pork are available in the market, many families still坚持 the tradition of making their own. Here are some health tips: don't use too little salt, and wait at least two weeks before eating.
Why is cured pork so salty? This is a food safety consideration. The salt used for curing pork generally needs to be 10% to 15%, which is about one liang of salt for every jin of pork. Although salt doesn't directly kill bacteria, a certain concentration can inhibit the growth of many spoilage microorganisms, acting as a preservative for cured products. If not enough salt is used, the meat can spoil and produce a large amount of nitrites, increasing the risk of food poisoning. Therefore, you must not skimp on salt when curing pork. Even if the cured pork is too salty, you can boil it in water first to remove some of the saltiness before cooking. Do not use less salt just because you are afraid it will be too salty.
After the cured pork is made and hung at home, remember one principle when using it: do not eat fresh cured pork. This is not just about flavor. Because nitrites peak between one and two weeks. After two weeks, the content begins to decrease. If you eat fresh-made cured pork within this one to two week period, you will undoubtedly increase the risk.
Purchasing Cured Meats
Choose reputable brands and eat less
Whenever "nitrites" are mentioned, the word associated with it is often "cancer," because nitrites can combine with protein breakdown products in food to form nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic. In fact, there's no need to worry too much. Bian Huawei says that nitrites are a food additive used for preservation, added as a color fixative and preservative in meat processing, such as in the production of "yao rou" (braised pork), sausages, and "fang rou" (square-cut cured pork). It is permissible to add a specified amount, but excessive amounts are not allowed.
Another concept that needs correction is that nitrites are not direct carcinogens, but rather cancer promoters, so there's no need to panic at the mere mention of "nitrites." Generally, the cured meat products we buy will contain nitrites, as long as the product is qualified and the content does not exceed the standard.
Even so, the only way to reduce nitrite intake is to eat less cured meat, not consume it as a regular dish in large quantities, or use it as a substitute for fresh ingredients. Eating it infrequently should not be a problem. Because no matter how high-quality the cured meat is, it is ultimately a food with a high salt content, and its nutritional value is significantly lost, not comparable to that of fresh meat. There is a theory that eating more vitamin C when consuming cured meat can help prevent the formation of carcinogens. Bian Huawei believes that vitamin C has antioxidant properties, which sounds plausible in theory, but it's hard to say whether it will be effective enough after being consumed, and it cannot be guaranteed. Eating less is the best guarantee.
In addition, slicing the cured pork first and boiling it in water can dissolve some of the nitrites into the water, making it easier to cook and reducing the salty taste.
The same principle applies to pickled vegetables
Pickled vegetables are fermented in an oxygen-free environment, which is actually the same principle as curing meat. The rule of using enough salt and waiting two weeks before eating should also be followed. Only "quick-pickled" vegetables that are eaten after just a few days of pickling, and pickles like kimchi and sauerkraut that are heavily contaminated with miscellaneous bacteria and inadequately pickled, can promote carcinogenesis. For family-style cold salads, they should be mixed and eaten immediately; if left for too long, spoilage can create safety hazards. (By Xu Shan)