Yes, uncured bacon is processed meat. Despite the name suggesting otherwise, “uncured” bacon goes through salting, smoking, and curing with natural nitrate sources like celery powder. It meets every criterion that health organizations use to define processed meat, and it carries similar health risks to conventionally cured bacon.
Why “Uncured” Is Misleading
The term “uncured” on a bacon label is a regulatory distinction, not a health one. Under USDA rules, bacon can only be called “cured” if it’s processed with synthetic nitrites or nitrates like sodium nitrite or potassium nitrite. When manufacturers use natural sources of nitrates instead, such as celery powder, celery juice, cherry powder, beet powder, or sea salt, the USDA requires the product to be labeled “uncured” with the statement “No Nitrates or Nitrites Added.”
But celery is naturally high in nitrates. Adding celery powder to meat is simply another way of delivering nitrates into the product. When you eat that bacon, the nitrates convert to nitrite as they pass from your mouth to your stomach, producing the same compounds found in conventionally cured bacon. The USDA now requires these products to include an explanatory note: “no nitrates or nitrites added except for those naturally occurring in ingredients such as celery juice powder, parsley, cherry powder, beet powder, spinach, sea salt etc.”
In other words, uncured bacon is still cured. It’s just cured with plant-derived nitrates instead of synthetic ones.
How the WHO Defines Processed Meat
The World Health Organization defines processed meat as meat that has been “transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavour or improve preservation.” Uncured bacon checks multiple boxes on this list. It is salted, it is cured (with natural nitrate sources), and it is often smoked. The WHO definition makes no distinction between synthetic and naturally derived curing agents.
The WHO’s cancer research agency classifies all processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning there is sufficient evidence that it increases the risk of colorectal cancer. This classification applies equally to bacon labeled “cured” and bacon labeled “uncured.”
The Nitrosamine Problem Applies to Both
One of the key reasons processed meat raises cancer risk involves compounds called nitrosamines. When nitrites in meat are exposed to high heat, they can transform into nitrosamines, which are linked to cancer. This reaction is influenced by cooking temperature, cooking time, moisture content, and the amount of residual nitrite in the meat.
Frying bacon at high temperatures is one of the most efficient ways to generate nitrosamines. This is true whether the nitrites came from a synthetic additive or from celery powder. The chemistry doesn’t change based on the source. Multiple studies have confirmed that nitrosamine levels in processed meat increase during frying, baking, and other high-heat cooking methods.
The USDA requires that pumped bacon (bacon injected with a curing solution) contain 550 parts per million of sodium ascorbate or sodium erythorbate, compounds that help reduce nitrosamine formation by speeding up the reaction between nitrite and the meat. You’ll often see these on the ingredient list of both cured and uncured products.
What Cancer Researchers Say
The American Institute for Cancer Research is direct on this point. Their guidance states that although natural ingredients like celery powder may make processed meats “sound much safer” than conventional versions, “it is best to minimize all forms of processed meat.” The compounds tied to cancer in processed meat are produced from smoking, curing, and nitrate- or nitrite-based additives, regardless of whether those additives are synthetic or plant-derived.
The 2025 U.S. Dietary Guidelines also take a harder stance on processed foods than previous editions, calling for Americans to “avoid highly processed packaged, prepared, ready-to-eat, or other foods that are salty or sweet.” While the guidelines don’t single out uncured bacon by name, the broader push is toward minimizing processed food intake overall.
How to Read the Label
If you’re trying to figure out whether a particular bacon product counts as processed, look at the ingredients rather than the front-of-package marketing. Signs that a product is processed meat include:
- Celery powder, celery juice, or celery salt in the ingredient list, which are natural nitrate sources used to cure the meat
- “No Nitrates or Nitrites Added” followed by fine print noting “except for those naturally occurring in…” various ingredients
- Sodium erythorbate or sodium ascorbate, added to reduce nitrosamine formation during cooking
- “Not Preserved, Keep Refrigerated Below 40°F At All Times”, a required label on uncured products that haven’t been thermally processed to certain standards
Any bacon that has been salted, smoked, or treated with nitrate-containing ingredients, whether synthetic or natural, is processed meat by every major health organization’s definition. The “uncured” label tells you something about the regulatory category of the curing agent. It tells you nothing meaningful about whether the product carries the health risks associated with processed meat. It does.