Bacon: Healthy or Not?

When talking about food, a phrase rarely heard is, "I hate bacon".  And for good reason.  Its rich, fatty, salty taste, with a smoky or maple flavor usually added, rightfully earns its nickname of "meat candy".  As much as its taste is lauded, however, it is often paired with the same amount of nutritional concerns.  Ask the average person how healthy they think bacon is, and they will answer in the negative almost as certainly as they will answer in the positive about its flavor.  So, is bacon really as unhealthy as it is believed to be?

Two bacon strips.  The top, from the back.  Bottom, from the belly.

Author: Rainer Zenz, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

The short answer is: it depends on the bacon.  Contrary to popular belief, not all bacon is unhealthy.  There are two main deciding factors: the source of the animal, and the processing.  Also, contrary to another popular belief, the bacon that is unhealthy is not unhealthy due to the fact that it is fatty.  Fats are an important component of a healthy diet.

 In the United States, bacon is almost always made from pork belly.  In other countries, it is often from the side or the back.  Pork belly, of course, has a comparatively higher fat and lower protein content than the other parts.  Despite this, by volume, even fattier cuts of bacon contain significant protein.  Because it is pork, it is laden with the various Vitamin B molecules - 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12.  It is very high in selenium, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc - four essential trace elements.

Now, for the downsides to bacon.  Most of it is also extremely high in sodium.  Evident in its taste, it is heavily salted as part of its curing process.  As for much of the sourcing of it, most bacon you see at the majority of supermarkets in the United States are from factory farms.  It has come from pigs that were primarily grain fed, raised in a sedentary environment, and have been given hormones and various antibiotics.

During the processing of most factory farmed bacon, the meat is typically treated with phosphates, as well as sodium compounds such as sodium ascorbate. It is not bacon itself, but a lot of the chemicals and substandard sources that create these caveats, not bacon in and of itself.

Find a good source for your bacon, such as at a local farmer's market, or at a food store where it is well sourced; where the pigs have not been treated with hormones or antibiotics, and have ideally had a free range environment.  Pay careful attention to the other ingredients listed.  Make sure it is not full of many of the typical additives that are common in commercial bacon.  Pederson's Natural Farms is an example of a good quality bacon.

After you have found a good source, you can eat it by itself, or add it to various recipes!