We are bitter. You are being duped with celery juice.

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June 26, 2020

Farmer Aaron is figuring out how to continually and naturally produce his cured meat products like bacon, hams, pork sausages, beef sausages, and beef snacks without icky synthetic ingredients.

Many people who produce USDA meat insist that you need to add nitrates and nitrites for safety. The big idea is to avoid the risk of botulism. And, yes, we definitely want to do that.

Nitrates and nitrites are used to preserve meat. It’s the reason cured meat is pink or red. It adds a salty flavor. And, it also inhibits the growth of potentially harmful bacteria.

On the flip side, nitrates and nitrites have been linked to an increased risk of cancer. Well, we definitely want to avoid that, too!

Nitrates are pretty inert. But, nitrites can convert into nitrosamines, and these can trigger cancer and other diseases. This is a big topic, and you can learn more about nitrites here.

So… what do “natural” and “organic” meat companies do? Well, they found a natural replacement for adding nitrates and nitrites - celery juice!

It sounds good, right? Celery is natural and is considered healthy. And, companies can slap a “no nitrates or nitrates added” label on their products, making consumers feel safe and educated.

Here’s the kicker. Celery juice naturally contains nitrates and nitrites, sometimes in lesser and sometimes in greater amounts than the synthetic version.

(Oh, and by the way, the same is true for pink salt.)

It’s not shocking that the USDA would allow celery juice or pink salt as a natural replacement. What I’m blown away by again is the false advertising. How could a company put “no nitrates or nitrites added” on the label when they actually were? It’s very mis-leading.

Why can’t we simply cure meat with plain old salt like we have for centuries?

I get it. The risk of disease. With pepperoni or soppressata that’s eaten unheated, it makes sense. We want to avoid preventable disease. But, with something like bacon, ham, or sausage that’s handled properly and cooked all the way through, the risk of disease is basically none.

Please know that we can truly say that no nitrates or nitrites are added to our products - synthetic or natural. None.

Farmer Aaron will continue to learn more about cured meats. There must be a path forward that meets both the farmer’s and the USDA’s standards. There must be a way to produce natural AND safe meat products.

We’ll be sure to keep you posted with any changes to our meat processing or ingredients.

Opinion

Pastured Meat

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Not a fan of the confusing, greenwashed labels in store? Yea, me too! And it's especially real for me, because I'm responsible for getting our labels approved with the "powers that be". Here's a little story with a big inside scoop... I made new labels for our bone broth a little while ago. It didn't go as smoothly as planned. Why? I put the little icons about our farming practices on them. They look like this: Yup, despite being 100% accurate and true, they were denied!! We're not allowed to put those statements on our food labels. So, I asked the USDA guy, "What would it take to get those claims on the labels, anyway?" The answer was kinda shocking. First off, there's some guidance on wording. Silly technicalities in my opinion. For example, you can't use the term "No Spray" but you can say "Produced without the use of synthetic pesticides." Or another example is that you can't say "No Routine Antibiotics or Vaccines" but you can say "Raised without routine use of antibiotics or vaccines." Second, the processor needs to update their documents to provide traceability. In other words, they need to document how they make sure the bones for our bone broth don't get mixed up with bones from other farms. I mean, this is pretty simple, especially with small batch foods like ours. But the documentation needs to be meticulous. Drafting it in government-approved language can be time consuming and/or costly. And lastly, once you get the wording and process right, you need proof. This was the real shocker for me: Want to know what proof would suffice for all the claims above? A 2-3 sentence affidavit (AKA a super short letter) signed by all farmers that supply us. That's it!? This lead me to a bunch of questions: What if a company submits a letter from one farmer but actually has other farmers that supply them, too? What if a company changes farmers? Will they submit new letters?What if a company's farmers change their practices in the future? Will they immediately update their labels?Are the "powers that be" checking on this? Is anyone checking on this?Is this why most farms and food facilities don't allow outside people coming in? It seems to me that, if a business isn't doing what the label says, the only way to find out is via a whistleblower. And the only way to make them stop is to take them to court. You know, like what's happening with Vital Farms and their pasture raised egg claim right now. It seems to me that, all that good natural stuff on labels - grass fed, pasture raised, antibiotic free, etc - doesn't mean it's true. Certifications are a little better, but the same kinda thing can be said about those, too. This is why, at Miller's, we choose to NOT sell in stores. No wholesale for us. In fact, we don't even have an on farm store. We only sell directly to our customers via our website. And, we choose to only get certified for what's required. This way, we can make our own natural standards. And, we can provide you will all the info and proof you need. Descriptions, photos, blog posts, test results, and more. So, what do you think? Should we do the affidavit thing to get claims on our bone broth labels? What proof do you need to feel confident in your food choices? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - just start typing) or contact us 😊

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Let’s take a look at what rennet is and why it’s used in cheesemaking, compare the different types of animal and vegetable rennets, check out the labeling requirements for rennet, and consider the potential health consequences. Keeping all this in mind, Miller’s Bio Farm aims to produce the most nutrient-dense, natural, A2/A2 cheese we can and gives you all the info you need to make the choice that’s best for your body!

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

It used to be true that, if your egg yolks were darker in color, then the better the egg's nutrition. Conscious consumers of the past would look for that deep orange yolk and stray away from lighter yellow yolks. It's sad, but this simply isn't the case anymore. Here's why you can't trust cheap store-bought eggs with orange yolks and need to know your farmer instead.

We are bitter. You are being duped with celery juice.

More from the blog

Ugh greenwashed labels. What does it take to get ___ on a label anyway?

Should I choose animal rennet or vegetable rennet in my natural cheese?

Is yolk color is no longer a great indicator of the egg's nutrition?

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566