Are cured meats bad for your lungs?

[18 April 2007 - 14h40]
[mis à jour le 18 April 2007 à 15h40]

We need to be careful about eating too much cured meat. Not only is it fatty and generally much too salty but it also contains nitrites which, if consumed in large amounts, are believed to be harmful to the respiratory system.

According to Professor Rui Jiang of the University of Columbia, New York, “bacon, ham and sausages contain high levels of nitrites”. It is certainly true that the food industry uses nitrites a great deal as a preserving agent. And not just that. Nitrites prevent the development of pathogenic micro-organisms such as Clostridium botulinum but they also give cured meats their characteristic colour and flavour and help to stop them going rancid. Which adds up to a lot of advantages for manufacturers concerned about the “shelf life” of their products.

Once absorbed, a substance derived from these nitrites forms in our body. This substance is nitrosamine. It is responsible for certain cancers, notably stomach cancer. Nitrites can also lead to dizziness and cause problems for pregnant women and people with high blood pressure.

According to Professor Jiang, regular consumption of nitrites can be harmful to the respiratory system. “We need to carry out further studies to determine whether frequent ingestion of nitrites can be considered a risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”, he points out. But is it really that surprising? After all, there is another purveyor of nitrites that is well known for its association with respiratory diseases – good old cigarette paper…

Source : American Thoracic Society, 16 April 2007

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