Bacon News: the Good the Bad and the Ugly

While I was reading a few news sites via Google News, I noticed a few bacon related stories. Two of them made me smile and one infuriated me. Here are the stories and my thoughts on them.

Business Week: Bring Home Better Bacon

It must also be the most politically incorrect food in the culinary world. The Talmud prohibits its consumption, as does the Koran. It’s loaded with nitrates, salts, and the worst kinds of animal fat. But still we keep on eating it—$2 billion worth annually in the U.S. according to the National Pork Board…

The story is about the small producers of bacon and how they make better bacon. It also notes that American eat 2 billion dollars worth of bacon. At $3-$6 a package for cheaper bacon that’s a lot of bacon!

Forbes: U.S. Food Prices Pork Out

If your diet consists entirely of bacon, you probably haven’t noticed that food prices in the United States are rising. Practically everything else is going up, and the respite for lovers of pork bellies is temporary.

I like this story because talked about how the price of pork has not gone up yet. Sadly, they say this will probably not be the case in a few months. So you better start stocking up on bacon now.

Daily Mail: Why eating just one sausage a day raises your cancer risk

“Eating 1.8oz (50g) of processed meat a day – the equivalent of one sausage or three rashers (3 slices) of bacon – raises the likelihood of the cancer by a fifth, research shows.

I hate articles that try to talk us out of eating bacon. We all know that bacon is not good for you. It’s a no brainer, it’s pork fat. We don’t eat bacon for our health, we eat bacon for the enjoyment of the food.

Articles like this are a waste of people’s time; they bring nothing new to the table. I don’t eat bacon everyday so I think I will be ok. Also there are so many other things that can cause cancers. I don’t think cutting out bacon is really going to prevent me from getting cancer. I will probably just end up getting some other form of cancer, from something else (cell phones, microwaves, Teflon, just to name a few). So I’d rather enjoy life and my health while I have it, and not worry about what may or may not affect my health 30 years from now.

Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t purposely do anything to negatively affect my long term health. But when you read about studies like this you just have to weigh the risks and benefits yourself to see what comes out on top. For the bacon issue my enjoyment of bacon a few times a month (maybe more) outweighs the “potential” risks involved.

If you agree or think differently about any of these articles let me know via comments or email.