OPINION:
Americans trust that the labels on the food they buy tell the truth. That trust is being exploited every single day in grocery stores across this country, and most families have no idea.
I learned this the hard way. My mother is a breast cancer survivor. After she was sentenced to prison, she was fed nitrite-packed processed meats — bologna, hot dogs, deli slices — every day. The same compounds that public health officials warn families to limit were served to a cancer survivor who had no choice and no alternative. She couldn’t read a label and opt out. The government controlled every bite.
That experience opened my eyes, but the more I learned, the more I realized the problem extends far beyond prison walls. It’s on the shelves of every supermarket in America.
Pick up a package of bacon or ham labeled “uncured” or “no nitrites added.” You would assume that means it’s nitrite-free. It doesn’t. Those products typically still contain nitrites, derived from celery powder instead of synthetic sodium nitrite. Same chemical compound. Same cancer risk. Different marketing.
Thankfully, we finally have an administration willing to confront this deception head-on. The Trump administration is championing a historic reset of federal nutrition policy. My dear friend, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, along with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has transformed the “Make America Healthy Again” movement into a decisive policy reality. They are fighting to ensure that healthy, affordable food is within reach for all Americans, demanding we finally eat real food.
New national polling of 1,000 registered voters by J.L. Partners confirms the public’s deep support for their mission. A majority of Americans don’t realize that “uncured” meat still contains nitrites. When they find out, the response is overwhelming: Seventy-five percent want the U.S. Department of Agriculture to ban misleading “no nitrite” claims. Eighty-three percent want clearer labeling when nitrites are present. This is a mandate for honesty.
There is a reason that mandate from the public matters. When nitrites are added to processed meat, they can react during cooking or digestion to form compounds called nitrosamines — chemicals directly linked to cancer. The World Health Organization classified processed meat as carcinogenic in 2015, linking 34,000 colorectal cancer deaths annually to diets high in nitrite-cured meat.
This is established science on which prior administrations have failed to act. The Food and Drug Administration still considers nitrites essential for preventing botulism, but nitrite-free bacon and ham have been sold safely in American supermarkets since the late 2010s. Italian Parma ham has been made without nitrites for generations. Across Europe, nitrite use has been sharply curtailed without any increase in foodborne illness.
Seventy-six percent of American voters say the FDA should review its guidance. They are right. This is exactly the kind of issue for which MAHA was built. Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Rollins have told Americans to eat real food, and the new dietary guidelines are the most significant reset of federal nutrition policy in decades.
Still, “Eat real food” has to mean something at the grocery store. If it does, then stopping misleading labels on chemically preserved processed meats is the obvious place to start.
What’s striking is how unified the country is on this. Eighty-six percent of Americans believe nitrites should be phased out, avoided or reduced when alternatives exist. Seventy-two percent are concerned that the U.S. is falling behind European food safety standards, and that concern crosses every political line: 72% of Republicans, 79% of Democrats and 64% of independents.
Majorities of both parties say they would be more likely to support a politician who backs nitrite reform. Only 3% say they would be less likely. In today’s political environment, that kind of consensus barely exists on anything.
Americans aren’t asking for anything radical. They want honest labels. They want their government to stop pretending a decades-old additive is necessary when the rest of the world has moved on. They also want to know what they are feeding their families.
My family’s experience taught me that when institutions control what people eat and aren’t honest about it, real harm follows. You don’t need to go through what we went through to see the problem. Any parent trusting a label that says “no nitrites added” — only to learn the product still contains cancer-linked compounds — has been failed by a system that should protect them.
The facts are clear. The public is ready. With leaders such as Ms. Rollins and Mr. Kennedy, the political risk is zero. It’s time for policy to catch up.
• Savannah Chrisley is a television personality, advocate and host of the podcast “Unlocked With Savannah Chrisley.” She is an active supporter of the Make America Healthy Again movement and criminal justice reform.
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