Are Nitrates and Nitrites Misunderstood?

A few years ago, the World Health Organization declared that processed meats—bacon, hot dogs, sausages, deli meats, and so on—can cause cancer. The justification for this conclusion was largely founded on the fact that many processed meats are cured with nitrates and nitrites, which have had a reputation for being toxic to health for a number of decades. But what if all of the warnings and links to poor health outcomes were based on inconclusive science? Moreover, what if nitrates an…