Nitrate in foods: harmful or healthy?

Do you like eating hot dogs? What are hot dogs made of? Nowadays, hot dog is a popular fast food. We all eat them. Parents buy them for their children. Almost all varieties of hot dogs contain sodium nitrite which some researchers declare are carcinogens. What is a sodium nitrite? Why it can cause cancer? Sodium nitrite is a chemical salt used as a preservative and taste enhancer in hot dogs. It is particularly effective against botulism strains. Some consumers were reported that other health problems from ingestion of sodium nitrite, such as blood pressure. When I saw The New York Times, a headline named “What’s Inside The Bun?” caught my interested.

In “What’s Inside The Bun?” this article, it mainly talks about food manufacturers are now pushing the federal government for truthful labeling on the meat, the labeling makes the consumers clearly that which products contain nitrate and nitrite. The United States Department of Agriculture thinks that truthful labeling on the meat should help consumers make decisions when they buy them.

In my opinion, truthful labeling on the meat is very helpful for people. First, it is good for people’s health. As I mentioned early, sodium nitrites play a key chemical roles in curing and processing meats. Some research has indicated that it is associated with higher risks of lung cancer and heart disease. From this, we can know that nitrate in food is not good for people’s health. So, when people want to buy hot dogs, if they see the labeling on the hot dog, they will change their mind to stop buying it. Because they know that can cause some cancers. Moreover, truthful labeling can help us to realize that we should concern about what we eat. People can know the meat is organic or not from truthful labeling. Maybe before that, they did not concern about what is organic? Why we should eat organic food? What are the advantages of organic food? However, when the meat is labeled, it reminds us that not only meat has nitrate, but other food, snacks also have it. In conclusion, people should try to avoid eating food which has nitrate, because it is not good for our health.

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References

What’s Inside The Bun? (2011, Jul, 1). The New York Times. Retreived July, 4, 2011 from  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/02/business/02hotdog.html?_r=1&ref=health