You switched to "healthy" deli meats. The label says "uncured" and "no nitrates added." You feel good about it.
Here is the problem: you are still eating nitrates. Possibly even more of them. The only thing that changed is the ingredient on the label.
The reason deli meats made the WHO carcinogen list
In October 2015, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen — the same category as tobacco and asbestos. Group 1 means there is sufficient evidence in humans that the substance causes cancer. In this case, the specific link is to colorectal cancer.
The mechanism is nitrates and nitrites. When these compounds are heated or encounter proteins in digestion, they can form nitrosamines, which are among the most well-studied carcinogens in food. Fifty grams of processed meat per day — roughly one hot dog or two slices of ham — is associated with approximately a 16% increased risk of colorectal cancer.
Why "no nitrates added" is mostly a marketing claim
After the WHO announcement, consumers started reading labels. Sales of "uncured" and "no nitrates added" deli meats climbed. Brands like Applegate and Niman Ranch leaned into this messaging heavily.
What actually happens when you buy an "uncured" turkey breast or a "no nitrates added" hot dog is this: the manufacturer replaces sodium nitrite (the synthetic curing agent) with celery powder or celery juice. Celery is extraordinarily high in naturally occurring nitrates. The manufacturer then adds a bacterial starter culture that converts those plant nitrates into nitrites — which is exactly what they were trying to avoid.
The end product contains nitrites. Often in concentrations comparable to, or exceeding, those in conventionally cured meats.
Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, put it directly: "There is little evidence that preserving meats using celery is any healthier than other added nitrites. Until industry provides strong evidence that nitrites in celery juice have different biologic effects than nitrites from other sources, it's very misleading to label these products as nitrite free or to consider such processed meats as being healthier."
Joseph Sebranek, professor of meat science at the University of Wisconsin, agrees: "There is absolutely no difference in the way we process nitrites. It makes no sense how these products are labeled differently."
The regulatory gap that makes this possible
Here is where it gets worse. Conventionally cured meats — the ones with sodium nitrite on the label — are subject to strict USDA limits on how much nitrate can be added. There are defined maximum levels per product type.
Meats cured with celery powder are not subject to those limits. Because celery powder is classified as a flavoring agent rather than a curing agent, manufacturers are free to use as much as they want. As The Washington Post noted in its investigation of this labeling practice, there are simply no caps on nitrite from celery powder.
Consumer Reports and the Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the USDA in 2019 to require front-of-package declarations whenever nitrates or nitrites are used, regardless of source. Their survey data showed widespread consumer confusion: people buying "uncured" products genuinely believed they were avoiding the compounds linked to cancer risk. The USDA has not made the labeling changes they requested.
The organic loophole
Celery powder is also on the USDA's list of allowable organic ingredients. This means an "organic" deli meat can be cured with celery powder, sold as uncured and nitrate-free, and certified organic — all at the same time. In 2019, the National Organic Standards Board voted 11 to 1 to keep celery powder on that list.
Minutes from the board's expert panel stated explicitly: "In terms of human health risks from nitrates and nitrites in food, there is no difference between celery or other plant-based nitrate sources versus synthetic nitrates and nitrites used on non-organic meats." And yet the ingredient remains approved.
It is also worth noting that the celery used to make commercial celery powder does not need to be organic. Non-organic celery regularly tests among the highest of any vegetable for pesticide residue, according to Environmental Working Group data. So the "organic" deli meat cured with celery powder may contain curing nitrites from pesticide-treated celery — none of which is visible on the label.
What to look for on labels
When you scan a deli meat package with Tallow, celery powder flags as a harmful ingredient. That is the correct call. The body does not distinguish between nitrites derived from celery and nitrites added as sodium nitrite. The downstream chemistry is the same.
If you are trying to reduce nitrate exposure from processed meats, the honest answer is that truly uncured options are rare and difficult to find commercially. A genuinely uncured product would have no curing agent at all — no sodium nitrite, no celery powder, no cultured celery juice. It would also look different (grayish in color) and have a shorter shelf life.
For now, the most reliable protection is knowing what you are actually buying. "No nitrates added" on the front of a package is a marketing statement. The ingredient list on the back is the truth.