Anyone know about processed meat and home made sausage casings?

[MabelBee]

I am trying to avoid cooking any processed meat at home but really struggling to find replacements for things the children love. I've just discovered the existence of meat grinder/sausage makers, but from what I can tell I would still have to buy ready made sausage casings.

Does anyone know if the casings themselves are processed? I'm quite new to avoiding processed meat so don't know enough about it to make informed choices.

I've had a quick look on Amazon and there are these options:

The first are collagen, but I'm not sure where that comes from or if it would be processed.

www.amazon.co.uk/Collagen-Sausage-Casing-Skins-Diameter/dp/B004S11KV0/ref=pd_bxgy_kh_img_y

I'm guessing that these natural hog casings are salted means that they are processed?

www.amazon.co.uk/Sausage-Casings-Natural-Diameter-Quality/dp/B006ZLU5F8/ref=pd_sim_kh_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KYSAG66G6RHDJ5ZEX7F

Aha. I have now found out for myself that both those casings are processed. This is a minefield... Now on the hunt for vegetarian casings which I'm assuming will solve my problem.

Salted doesn't necessarily mean processed, it means 'preserved'. A natural skin would otherwise have just a day or two shelf-life and would have to be shipped under refrigerated conditions. Processed meat is also not the devil. The key things to look for are the meat content - high as possible - and the salt content - low as possible. High quality sausages with few ingredients are better than ones with great long lists of chemicals you can't pronounce. In small quantities, they will do no harm

vegetarian casings are all (very artificaial and) processed. If you are looking for the least 'messed with' option I'd go for the salted hog intestines.

I take your point, Cogito, about small quantities. But that is why I was thinking of avoiding processed meat completely at home, so that when we eat out or at friends and there is processed meat we can have that as our small quantity. In any case, I am now considering poultry sausages instead!