What’s really inside meats with ‘no nitrite added’? Here’s what Talking Point tests found - CNA
Bacon, ham and sausages may be marketed as “nitrite-free” or “no nitrite added”, but the labels can get complicated. Talking Point tests nine of these products and gets dietary advice.
Bacon fared the best in the lab test measuring nitrite levels in clean-label processed meats.
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Liew Zhi Xin 01 Oct 2026 06:00AM (Updated: 01 Oct 2026 03:45PM) Bookmark Bookmark Share WhatsApp Telegram Facebook Twitter Email LinkedIn Set CNA as your preferred source on Google Add CNA as a trusted source to help Google better understand and surface our content in search results. Read a summary of this article on FAST. Get bite-sized news via a newcards interface. Give it a try. Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST FAST SINGAPORE: Consumption of processed meat has been a long-standing public health concern. In 2015, the World Health Organization’s cancer agency found that eating 50g of processed meat daily increased the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 per cent.
Then in January, researchers in France published their findings that higher exposure to some common food preservatives, including sodium nitrite, was associated with a greater risk of Type 2 diabetes.
In Singapore, the prevalence of diabetes is already high, according to the latest National Population Health Survey.
Against that backdrop, some processed meats are being marketed as nitrite-free alternatives. But the label “nitrite-free” or “no nitrites added” may not tell the whole story.
CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less An example of the claims made on retail packaging. When CNA’s Talking Point got nine “clean label” products tested — three samples of ham, bacon and sausage each — nitrite was detected in two hams and one sausage.
One of the hams even contained more nitrite than a regular ham that was tested for comparison. The same was true of a pork wiener labelled as “no nitrite added”.
What do these claims really mean? Why is nitrite used in processed meat in the first place? And how can nitrates or nitrites turn up in products that are not supposed to have any added, Talking Point asks.
One of the additives used to preserve meats is sodium nitrate, a white compound resembling salt that will be converted into sodium nitrite by bacteria, which is naturally present in meat.
Sodium nitrite, also known as E250, is the active compound that inhibits the growth of Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that produces a toxin that can lead to serious illness and even death.
The compound also gives cured meat its pink hue and keeps the colour stable for “several weeks to months”, said National University of Singapore lecturer and food chemist Yeo Hui Qi. Without nitrites, meat oxidises over time and gradually turns greyish or brown.
Sodium nitrite also gives meat a saltier taste, “which consumers crave in their foods”, she noted.
The thing is, nitrites can react with amino acids naturally present in meat to form nitrosamines, the “vast majority” of which are cancer-causing, she highlighted.
These compounds form more quickly at higher temperatures, such as during grilling and frying. “They also form during digestion under acidic conditions,” she added.
If nitrite helps to flavour processed meat, however, one question is whether consumers will taste a difference when it comes to the alternatives that are nitrite-free or have no added nitrites as claimed on their labels?
To find out, Talking Point served members of the public the two versions of ham, bacon and sausages without telling them what the difference was.
The taste test showed near equal results: 54 people preferred the regular meats, and 52 chose the clean-label alternatives.
Given the taste test results, what is really in the clean-label processed meats?
The nine pork and chicken products Talking Point sent to a laboratory for testing all contained varying levels of nitrate, although the tests could not really ascertain whether it was naturally occurring or not.
WATCH: We tested ‘nitrite-free’ meat. Here’s what we found (22:58)
