Food Ingredients: Poison or Panacea?

I’m always struck by the irony inherent in studies that challenge our collective wisdom on foods or ingredients that are considered “bad.” Today’s example: nitrates and nitrites. A couple of recent articles in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,“Nitrate in foods: harmful or healthy?”  and “Food sources of nitrates and nitrites: the physiologic context for potential health benefits,” swam against the current of popular opinion by suggesting dietary nitrates and nitrates, might actually be beneficial. There’s one or two others in recent memory that concur that these “evil additives” might do a body good.

I’ve always been in agreement with this blogger, who quite thoroughly backs up the position that, as food additives, nitrates/nitrites do more good that harm. And in addition to the studies mentioned, there’s also this little factoid that the arugula-eaters of the world might want to consider: According to the Scientific Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain of the EFSA by the European Commission’s report on “Nitrates in Vegetables” in the June issue of EFSA Journal most vegetables contained from 1 to 4,800 ppm, with arugula topping the list at 4,677 ppm. Nitrates in those unspeakable processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat are limited to 156 ppm sodium nitrite per USDA, and the consumption level is probably much lower due reactions that take place during processing and storage.

Rather than demonizing dawgs or the killer ingredient du jour, it seems we might just focus on ways to adjust the American consciousness to remember dietary moderation never killed anyone yet. And to those who eat too much arugula…you might want to slow down and relax--it’s summertime after all--and eat a hot dog every once in a while.

   -Lynn A. Kuntz