THE BATTALION Page 7
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1978
The Battalion Classified
845-2611
Nitrite danger
A&M specialist says ‘cure’worse than harms
HELP WANTED
HELP WANTED
FOR SALE
FULL OR PART TIME
Flexible hours to fit your schedule
Rapid advancement
♦Day shift
♦Night shift (til 10:00 p.m.)
♦Weekends
Minimum starting salary $2.75 per hour for inexperienced persons. Cashier experience
helpful.
Apply in person only:
9:30-11:00 a.m. (if possible)
Whataburger
Bryan
1101 Texas
College Station
105 Dominik
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
DUPLEX FOR SALE
By owner. Large two bed
room duplex. 2-story, large,
rooms. Fireplace, garage,
fenced back yard. Assume
loan balance. 1915 Pine
Tree Drive, Bryan.
Call 823-5064 before 5
or
779-8991 after 6
846-6714 & 846-1151
UNIVERSITY SQUARE SHOPPING CENTER
PUTT THEATRg GROUP SALES TICKETS WILL BE ACCEPTED
Banning the preservative nitrite
in cured meats could be a “cure
worse than the disease,” claims a
Texas A&M University meats spe
cialist.
Eliminating nitrite would only
remove 2 percent of the average
person’s daily intake of the chemi
cal. The other 98 percent would still
come naturally from other sources
like saliva, vegetables and ingested
proteins, said Dr. Jeff Saveli of
Texas A&M’s Texas Agricultural Ex
tension Service.
He serves on the Nitrite Safety
Council, composed of representa
tives from livestock, poultry and
meats industries.
Saveli said nitrite is one of the
best, if not the best, inhibitor of
botulism poisoning. The chemical
has been used for centuries, first by
accident and then by design, to give
that particular taste and color nor
mally associated with cured meat
products. It is used in hams, bacon,
hot dogs, sandwich meats and other
meat products.
Saveli said nitrite is one of the
best, if not the best, inhibitor of
botulism poisoning. The chemi
cal has been used for centuries.
Saveli stressed there is currently
no effective replacement for nitrite.
If nitrites are banned, one alterna
tive would require all meat products
to be refrigerated below 40 degrees
Fahrenheit for safety.
“In banning nitrites, the cure may
be worse than the disease,” Saveli
said. “Were fortunate that the
cured meats industry hasn t had a
high incidence of food safety prob-
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'ALTERATIONS 1
IN THE GRAND TRADITION OF
OLD TEXAS WHERE MOTHER
TAUGHT DAUGHTER THE FINE
ART OF SEWING — SO HELEN
MARIE TAUGHT EDITH MARIE
THE SECRETS OF SEWING AND
ALTERATIONS.
“DON’T GIVE UP — WE LL
MAKE IT FIT!"
AT WELCH'S CLEANERS, WE
NOT ONLY SERVE AS AN EXCEL
LENT DRY CLEANERS BUT WE
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TAPERED, SHIRTS, JEAN HEMS,
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WELCH’S CLEANERS
3819 E. 29th (TOWN & COUNTRY SHOPPING CENTER)
lems. This can be directly linked to
the use of nitrite in these products.
“I can’t see how increasing the
risk of botulism and completely re
vamping the cured meats industry is
worth lowering the 2 percent inci
dence of a chemical that has been
used in meats for hundreds of
years. ”
Saveli said the federal govern
ment will possibly move to phase
out nitrites over a period of time be
cause of a recent Massachusetts In
stitute of Technology study linking
the preservative with cancer.
“Nitrite is the only chemical that
will do it all — prevent boUilism,
give flavor and color and still retard
oxidation. No substitute has been
found that even comes near to it,
even though hundreds of substances
have been tested as possible re
placements,’ Saveli stressed.
The controversy over nitrites sur
faced in mid-August when the
USDA and the Food and Drug Ad
ministration announced the findings
of the MIT study. The report indi
cated the possibility that nitrites
caused lymphoma, a form of cancer,
in laboratory rats. The animals were
fed levels of nitrites greatly exceed
ing those found in foodstuffs.
Neither agency made a recom
mendation for further action at the
time, although Assistant Secretary
of Agriculture Carol Foreman said
some attempt will be made to phase
out nitrites.
In the study, 2,000 laboratory rats
were fed up to the human equiva
lent of 586 pounds of cured meats
per day. Tests revealed a 12.5 per
cent incidence of cancer in the
nitrite-fed rats, while the rats that
were not fed the chemical had a
cancer incidence of 8.4 percent.
There is a definite need for con
tinued research to learn more about
the benefits and hazards associated
with the use of nitrites, Saveli said.
“Is one study, the first of its kind,
enough to change an entire indus
try’s production methods, plus in
crease the risk of botulism?” he
asked.
The economic impact cannot he
ignored either. Cured meats are a
$12.5 billion industry with a domes
tic annual production of more than 9
billion pounds of food products.
“Is one study, the first of its
kind, enough to change an entire
industry's production methods,
plus increase the risk of
botulism? “
He noted almost 70 percent of the
pork produced in the United States
ends up in cured meats like bacon,
sausage and ham, while the remain
der is sold as fresh meat.
The effect would also reach far
beyond the pork producer to meat
packers, retailers and consumers, as
well as farmers, tractor and equip
ment manufacturers and other re
lated industries.
Suggestions coming from the
government on what to use in place
of nitrites include other chemicals
(such as potassium sorbate), freezing
and radiation treatments.
All are feasible, Saveli said, but
each is rather expensive at present
and would require some time to
start new processing production.
Drugs are available
for rare diseases
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