kids and pepperoni and salami

[Anonymous]

I see other kids' lunches with pepperoni and salami, etc.. we are far from health food nuts.. but I thought all that was full of nitrates or something like that. is there a particular brand of pepperoni or salami that you buy for the kids (that tastes good?) My DD loves eating the hormel pepperoni straight from the bag, but I try to limit it because I thought it was pretty bad for her. ?? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see other kids' lunches with pepperoni and salami, etc.. we are far from health food nuts.. but I thought all that was full of nitrates or something like that. is there a particular brand of pepperoni or salami that you buy for the kids (that tastes good?) My DD loves eating the hormel pepperoni straight from the bag, but I try to limit it because I thought it was pretty bad for her. ?? Thanks!

I buy salami and pepperoni at the deli counter at Whole Foods-still has a lot of sodium but it is free of the nitrates/nitrites

[Anonymous]

I buy Applegate. Hardly the perfect food, but it's a nice treat from time to time. (My kids have to fight me for it.)

[Anonymous]

Whole Foods and some of the brands at Trader Joes are nitrite/nitrate free. My son loves it and will down a ton of it if I don't watch him.

[Anonymous]

We get Applegate salami.

[Anonymous]

The funny thing is that sodium nitrite must be buffered when used in cured meats, usually by an analog of Vitamin C. You end up with less free/reactive nitrite in conventional salami, bacon, etc. than in products made with celery juice, which is nitrite-rich and not buffered.

I don't think the occasional treat of either is a big deal. You just can't eat salami on white bread every day for the rest of your life.