15
Oct
No nitrates or nitrites added except for those naturally occurring in ingredients such as celery juice powder parsley cherry powder beet powder spinach sea salt etc emphasis mine. The salt brings out the vegetal flavor of the seeds making them taste more like celery than they would on their own.
A quick Internet search will bring up scores of articles about how sodium nitrate is a terrible additive used in factory-processed foods.
Does celery salt have nitrates. Products cured with celery salt or celery powder are often labeled uncured to differentiate them from products cured with the purer form of sodium nitrate although celery salt does indeed cause the same curing function as pink salt. Where are Nitrates Found. Nitrates are found in our favorite cured and smoked pork products such as bacon and ham along with beef sausages such as hot dogs kielbasa and summer sausage.
Whether they are in the form of pink salt or celery salt. Celery has a very high concentration of natural nitrate and treating celery juice with a bacterial culture produces nitrite. The concentrated juice can then be used to produce no nitrite added processed meat.
Curiously regulations stipulate that the traditional curing process requires the addition of nitrite and thus organic processed meats that are treated with celery juice have to be labeled as. Celery powder prepared from celery juice has been shown to have a nitrate content of approximately 275. What kind of cancer do nitrates cause.
High nitrate intake may be associated with a decreased risk of gastric cancer whereas nitrite intake may increase the. It is also commonly used to season the Chicago-style hot dog the New York System wiener salads coleslaw and stews. It is a primary ingredient in Old Bay brand seasoning.
Celery salt is often used by food producers to prevent spoilage while avoiding listing sodium nitrate on the ingredients list directly. Celery and several other common vegetables for example beets arugula lettuce naturally contain high levels of sodium nitrate. Processed meats usually have sodium nitrate added to them to help cure the meat and there is a theory going back some decades that it is the sodium nitrate in processed meats that conveys an increased risk of cancer this concept remains a theory and has.
Celery is high in nitrates which when exposed to certain micro-organisms contained in foods and in the gastrointestinal tract can be reduced to potentially toxic nitrites. In large enough doses nitrites can cause methemoglobinemia or the loss of hemoglobins oxygen-carrying ability and even death. Replacing sodium nitrate with celery seeds does not completely eliminate the presence of nitrates and nitrites.
Nitrates are ubiquitous chemical compounds that occur in vegetables as well as animal products. Celery seeds contain natural nitrates that will be present in the cured meat product. Celery salt consists of salt milled down with celery seeds.
The salt brings out the vegetal flavor of the seeds making them taste more like celery than they would on their own. Celery seeds have levels of sodium nitrate in them that when combined with sea salt makes for well and extra salty salt. This post is going to get salty.
Specifically sodium nitrate and its cousin sodium nitrite. And full disclaimer I know these are different chemical compounds but will still use them interchangeably because Im human. A quick Internet search will bring up scores of articles about how sodium nitrate is a terrible additive used in factory-processed foods.
Thats because from a regulatory perspective the USDA does not consider celery powder a source of nitrates says Charlotte Vallaeys who was a. If you cure your bacon with celery rather than sodium nitrite you are required by law to label that bacon uncured You also have to include the statement no nitrates or nitrites added. Heres where the confusion lies.
Harmful nitrates can be added to celery powder celery juice powder or celery salt by a company that makes it or uses it to make another product. Celery gets false blame for harmful nitrates in preserved meats and other productswhen the truth is that its a classic case of contaminating celery with add-ins. Your fresh celery juice cannot have harmful.
Salt has no effect upon botulin Sodium Chloride is a very different creature from Sodium Nitrate or Potassium Nitrate. Celery seed can be used as a nitrate as it is naturally fairly high in nitrates but in the end is not really different than using the powdered nitrate that you would buy either way nitrate is nitrate and toxic to us. Take a look at the additional sometimes very fine print on your favorite uncured meat and you will most likely find some wording similar to the following.
No nitrates or nitrites added except for those naturally occurring in ingredients such as celery juice powder parsley cherry powder beet powder spinach sea salt etc emphasis mine. The naturally occurring nitrates in celery dont exist when the celery or fresh celery juice hasnt yet oxidized. When fresh celery juice or celery does oxidize just like when any herb vegetable or fruit oxidizes then a naturally occurring nitrate can develop.
But this naturally occurring nitrate is also never harmful in any way shape or form. Celery juice powder and celery powder have oxidized so they can contain naturally occurring nitrates. Celery powder is positively loaded with sodium nitrate.
And because the celery powder is technically considered a flavoring agent instead of a preservative which is what it is being used for the uncured bacon does not have to have the vitamin C or vitamin E added to it. Both forms of celery juice are chosen for their significantly high although natural levels of nitrates. And since celery juice is a plant-based ingredient and not specifically sodium nitrate manufacturers are allowed to label the products nitrate-free or no added nitrates What does this mean.
It means that while we purchase meats labeled nitrate-free or no added nitrates and believe. Some vegetables have higher nitrate levels than others. Different soils have different nitrogen content which affects the amount of nitrate in the plants.
Fertilizer use can also affect the amount of nitrate in vegetables. Green leafy vegetables and root plants contain the most sodium nitrate. Vegetables high in sodium nitrate include beets cabbage carrots celery radishes and spinach.
Due to increased use of nitrate fertilizers in the last century these figures are high. Dont stop eating these veggies because many of them also contain vitamin C naturally limiting the formation of the toxic nitrosamines. You may have noticed that organic and natural meat producers use celery powder instead of nitrites.