Processed Meat: How Much Is too Much?

Virtually all healthy eating guidelines—everything from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to the recommendations put out by the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association—include some sort of recommendation to limit your intake of processed meat.

But there’s a lot of confusion about what counts as processed meat: Ham, bacon, pepperoni, and hot dogs are generally included in that category. But what about uncured bacon or hot dogs with no nitrites added? What about sliced turkey or roast beef from the deli counter? Are they processed?

And what exactly is it about processed meat that makes it a problem. Is it just about the nitrites? Is it sodium? Saturated fat? All of the above?

What about uncured bacon or hot dogs with no nitrites added? What about sliced turkey or roast beef from the deli counter? Are they processed?

I think there’s also some understandable confusion about what it means to “limit” your consumption. Is one serving a week too much? One serving a month? Is any amount safe?

Kathleen Zelman is a registered dietitian who, among other things, served as the director of nutrition for Web MD for many years. She recently wrote a white paper for the North American Meat Institute addressing some of these questions and concerns about processed meats. She sat down with me to discuss this further.

What counts as processed meat?

As Kathleen explains:

Minimally processed meat is the correct term for raw, uncooked meat products that have been minimally altered (grinding, cutting) to create familiar cuts like strip steaks or pork chops. No additives or preservatives are used. It is simply processed from the whole animal into edible portions you see in the grocery store.

Further processed is the term used for meat and poultry that has been transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, cooking, batter/breading and/or the addition of ingredients to enhance flavor or improve preservation and safety. Examples include hot dogs, ham, sausages, corned beef, lunch meat, bacon or beef jerky as well as canned meat and meat-based preparations.

You see the problem. Most of us would not call a piece of raw chicken or pork processed meat. But in the meat industry, these are considered processed meat. For that matter, most of us would not put a can of tuna in the same category as hotdogs or corned beef. And yet, in the meat industry, these are all “further processed” meats. The way processed meat is defined in research studies is also fuzzy and inconsistent, but tends to align more with the meat industry’s definition of “further processed....

Keep reading on Quick and Dirty Tips