I was cross, on walking around the Whole Foods today, to find every package of every ham-like product was labeled “uncured.” I wanted some proper cured ham! Even the deli only had uncured kinds.
Gah. What other trends are taking over your grocery store?
Walmarts are making their grocery aisles narrower; barely two carts wide.
It another stupid branding thing these days. It’s shorthand for “no nitrites” for the knee-jerk buzzword-of-the-day shoppers, but it is actually cured in the actual sense of cured, at least as far as mass-market ham ever was.
I’m also seeing uncured bacon. What’s the point of that?
Uncured hot dogs, too. It’s all marketing bullshit. They’re cured. So far as I’ve seen, they’re all cured via celery juice or celery powder, which is nitrate rich. If you look at the labels, you’ll often see something like “no nitrates/nitrates added” with an asterisk next to that leading to “except for those naturally occuring in celery powder” or something like that. Just Googling around, I find this:
So, “uncured,” my ass.
ETA: And, also, curing does not even require the use of nitrites/nitrates. Just salt will do fine, although you have to use more of it than if you’re cutting it with a nitrate/nitrite.
It’s still cured in that they soak it in celery juice. It’s just a shell game in where the nitrites come from.
Still, it’s got to be healthier than curing it, right? Like using organic, evaporated cane juice rather than sugar!
Uncured ham would be called pork.
Yeah, but is the curing agent gluten free?!?
Ham should be back leg, pork is from a non-specific body part, including the ham.
Or Fresh Ham. But it is cured.
I’m glad someone asked about this. I’ve been wondering, too, when did NOT curing become a thing? Why is it better (or not), or even different (or not)? Is it the nitrites? The amount of salt?
Around here, I’ve seen the uncured stuff for at least ten years. No, there’s nothing healthier about it (unless, perhaps, it’s truly uncured, which all of the products I’ve seen are not.) It’s just marketing BS for folks who are scared of nitrites and nitrates in their ingredient list, not realizing celery powder is just loaded with the stuff. Or perhaps they think it being naturally part of celery, it’s somehow healthier than sodium nitrate/nitrite being added directly to the food.
Interesting info. Consider me a better educated consumer.
Count me as another who fell for it. I mostly see it on frozen pizzas, promoting the uncured pepperoni. I’m a little fuzzy on the term, I guess, because I thought the curing was what made the pepperoni, um, pepperoni - ish. Thus, I’ve not tried it because I assumed it wouldn’t taste as good.
Thanks for the enlightenment, folks.
Yeah, here’s a package of one brand’s version. Note the “No Nitrates or Nitrites* *Except for those naturally occuring in sea salt and celery juice powder.” And, sure enouigh, “cultured celery powder” is right there in the ingredients.
Do you mean rubbing salt and sugar and spice all over the meat and hanging it up for days or weeks doesn’t qualify as “curing”? Only the addition of nitrite means “cured”?
Yeah, as I note above, curing doesn’t need nitrates or nitrites. But the term “uncured” as used by the food industry or perhaps I should say advertising industry is to lead the consumer to believe that nitrates/nitrites are not being used in that food’s production. (Curing salts have been a bit of a nutritional bugaboo for quite awhile now, similar in reputation to MSG.) That’s what the “uncured” label is trying to communicate (without communicating the fact that celery juice powder can have as much or more of our bugaboo ingredient than traditionally used in cures that contain a small amount of nitrate/nitrite to stave away the botulism and give cured meat that pretty red color.)
Very informative. I had wondered about this labeling for awhile.
I don’t like cured bacon or ham. I want the kind that was never sick to begin with!
For most commercial bacon and ham the curing is wet, i.e. brining. This has the advantage to the meat packer of selling you lots of water at the same price per pound as the meat.