The processed, sodium nitrite, cured, smoked, preserved supermarket bacon of Trader Joe's (the one that says uncured, not preserved, and no added nitrites) has pics of apples on the wrapper. Look at all of those apples! It gives the impression that you are eating healthy apples. Ironically, some of the meat companies have decided to appeal to the health benefits of the vegan-vegetarian lifestyle to try to boost the image of a processed cured meat. In contrast, companies that sell fresh fruit never resort to putting pics of meat on their labels, especially processed, smoke, cured, supermarket meat, as it would tarnish the healthy attributes of apples. An asymmetry exists between those two food markets. Don't expect the meat companies to put images of black combustion soot of smoldering wood on their labels. Red delicious apples looks so much better. Apple-smoked means that wood from apple trees is smoldered to produce the combustion soot in the bacon and its associated mutagenic substances. It's another approach being used by companies to mold the minds of consumers to make a food look healthy. In the U.S., it can still be labeled as organic, even with the combustion soot and its mutagenic substances, because it came from natural substances (wood). If the soot had been pre-made and inserted into the meat, then it wouldn't be considered organic. It's similar for the sodium nitrite/nitrate. If it is added from an external source, then the product is not organic. But if the sodium nitrite/nitrate is generated within the meat by bacteria acting on added sea salt and added celery powder, then it's considered organic. The nitrates/nitrites in both circumstances are chemically the same and pose the same potential health risks. Organic cigarettes could be marketed. Some people would be defending the tobacco companies and saying that their organic tobacco is not as unhealthy even though it has the same plethora of nitrosamines and other mutagenic substances generated during the combustion of the organic tobacco.
