Supermarket Ham

[UniqueSiren]

Because of processed meat being classified a carcinogen, I am only just learning about what they do to it.

AIBU to have been in the dark for so long? Why is it cheaper to mess with something, presumably using machinery and extra workers than it is to just sell actual sliced ham?

I am on Ocado as we speak and I am unable to find ham that is not 'formed'. Actually unable to find any, it's all been messed with in some way. Even the organic ham I've looked at is still mauled and squished. Ew.

I need to buy it for my autistic DS and don't drive so order my shopping online mostly. What can I do? What should I buy???

I’ve just bought some nitrate free ham - they do bacon too.
www.finnebrogue.com/naked/

For anyone unsure...DHMO is water! However water is lethal...you can drown in it, drink too much and you’ll die, drink too little and you’ll die...etc

It just shows that you can make people neurotic about any substance with the right wording and misuse of statistics.

A few slices of ham won’t hurt you...don’t live on processed meat but don’t drive yourself bonkers!

JustVent if you read the first line of the Wikipedia page, it should become clear!

The Great Ham Conspiracy.

Processed meats generally are just very bad for people. While I would strongly recommend vegetarianism () I appreciate that it doesn't suit everyone, and your son may have particular dietary requirements that prevent it. If going veggie isn't an option it might be worth sourcing your meat from a local butcher where it's less likely to be mass produced and you can ask them about the processes involved. Their ham is much more likely to be simply sliced from a joint (though it's likely much more expensive than supermarket stuff).

I would go to the butchers we get all our meat from local butchers and it is so lovely and tasty and maybe slightly more expensive but so so much nicer. The ham is delicious and is just cooked at the butchers but you can by a joint yourself and do it if you prefer. Obviously you won't get the shelf life of packet ham so may not be as convinient

It is real, it's water. So yes it does case death every year.

Billy bear meat is fine though isn't it? It's just slices of bear face

'slices of bear face'

Isnt ham processed by definition though, and its the salting or smoking to preserve it (which makes it ham) that is the carcinogen? So whilst billy bear or whatever might be squished together from multiple pigs, its not necessarily more carcinogenic than a posh stick of chorizo. When they talk about not eating too many processed meats they include bacon and salami etc in that too.

Happy to be corrected, but that's my unserstanding.

OP- one of the problems with ham and other deli meats is the type of preservative used to keep it fresh, as sodium nitrite has been linked to a number of health problems.

You might like to read this from CRUK on processed meat being classified as a carcinogen.

The key point is that while smoking and processed meats both "do cause cancer" they cause rather different AMOUNTS of cancer.

And yes, naice ham counts just as much as Billy Bear. "Processing" by squishing or cutting up or reforming into bear shapes does not make a substance more carcinogenic than it was before.

Perhaps consider eating something else that didn’t have to live a horrible life and then die for your pleasure of eating it? I know people don’t like to be reminded that their ham was once a cute piggie (with the same intelligence as a 3 year old child) and I understand why, but perhaps whilst researching what happens to ham in processing, also look at how pigs are raised for meat 99% of the time.

Mmm sausages 🐷

@PaperdollCartoon

Veal? That was never a cute piggie. Lamb chops, foie gras and roast duck legs (our dinner tonight) were never cute piggies either.

For what it's worth, I have no issue with knowing that ham (bacon too, FYI) were once cute piggies.

@7even the conversation is specifically about ham, not veal, duck or lamb... not sure what your point is?

I know plenty of people don’t mind where their food comes from, but for every one of those their are 5 people signing petitions to put away a dog abuser, whilst tucking into bacon from pigs that suffered worse than that dog. The cognitive dissonance is massive.

@geekone wow you’re smart, never heard that before

There*

@paperdollCartoon

You spoke about considering eating something else that didn't used to be a cute piggie. I mentioned alternatives.

You're right though. This thread is about ham not an opportunity for you to preach about 'plant-based diets'.

You've never heard of sausages? They're (not "their") fucking awesome. Little bits of cute piggies in a casing - and this is the genius bit - from a cute piggie. It's piggie wrapped in piggie. Sometimes we have piggie in piggie in piggie. That's sausage wrapped in bacon.

@7even you can see I corrected the their in a later post - fast typing.

I don’t know if you’re trying to bother me or what? I’ve eaten a sausage? I’ve eaten pigs in blanket, bacon... steak, foie gras even. I just realised it made no sense to cuddle my cats and then pay someone else to kill pigs for me to eat, anymore than it didn’t make sense to treat people differently because of the way they look.

Also, where have I ‘preached about plant based diets’. I haven’t mention anything of the sort. I’m also not vegan.

I understand vegetarianism, thank you PaperdollCartoon

Perhaps you'd like further irrelevant information on trying to get an autistic child to eat. Anything at all, never mind a processed 'ham substitute' or any actual veg. Sadly. Hence the non considering of 'eating something else that didn’t have to live a horrible life and then die for your pleasure of eating it?'
I'm just trying to make what I do buy, better. I'm perfectly happy to buy organic and free range, ethical meat.

Ok. If the squishing & mauling of the meat (and the tiny needles injecting chemicals and water) doesn't constitute 'processing' then I don't understand what 'processed meat' is either. And why it's a carcinogen. I could do internet research but I consider mumsnet as my research sometimes (plus a lot of the previous comments entertained me so win-win)

The boiled boneless ham was not a success btw. Too thick and chewy.

I know what I'll be having for lunch and dinner.

Off to the butchers it is then.

DP and I love the ham from a home cooked gammon and were wondering how well it would stand being frozen. Some leftover gammon from a Christmas (not sure which one!) had gone a very funny colour when it was defrosted and we opted not to eat it.

I was wondering if vacuum sealing it before freezing would make it last better in the freezer? A gammon joint is less than half the price of "naice" ham in the supermarket or the butcher, and we'd get the benefit of the delicious lentil soup made from the gammon water, too.

Anyone got any idea?

One more thing. In Asda there is a deli section at the back of store. In front of that section are fridges full of brown papered sliced ham called 'deli ham'. The deli section wasn't open so I grabbed a packet of this because it looks like it had been sliced off the bone in store then put out for us to buy when that section was closed ON PURPOSE. It was formed ham.

That is a deliberate trick and I am shocked. And annoyed.

Good point, I'm interested myself LakieLady I have lots left over and it would be nice to not have to eat it all day long.

Also any tips on thinner slicing? I have sharp knives I'm just rubbish.