Hot dogs and other fast food. Like many foods that are easy to prepare and inexpensive to make and buy, these foods are a typical example of heavy nitrate content.
Despite the popularity of fast foods and similar products, this is one of the worst foods that you feed the body. Nitrates are an important part of such products. Unlike some types of meat, fast food is difficult to prepare without the use of nitrates.
The real issue is how this food is processed. Nitrates allow fast food meat to retain its pink color and prevent it from spoiling quickly. Without nitrates, it would be impossible to process and sell such a product.
Is nitrates in food the norm of our time?
So is nitrate in foods harmful? Nitrates have become an integral part of the canning process and are most commonly used in meat processing. Plus, they’re incredibly cheap. Using them is the easiest way to keep up with the demand for meat.
Almost every type of meat you eat is processed. If nitrates were only in one type of food, it would be easy, but they are found in almost all foods. High levels of nitrates can be found in popular fruits and vegetables. Natural nitrates in vegetables are not a cause for concern, but synthetic ones are harmful.
Nitrates are popular additives in fertilizers. Fruits and vegetables grown in nitrate-heavy soil can easily form excess compounds. Nitrates are so abundant in food that some companies rely on the use of other additives to counteract their harmful effects.
Many people don’t know this, but hot dogs are treated with vitamin C (although most companies will list it as ascorbic acid on labels) as a way to counter the powerful nitrates.
It may be comforting that companies are trying to mitigate the harms of nitrate exposure. But if you care about health, you need to independently control the diet and strive to reduce the consumption of nitrates.
