Can Lunch Meat *Actually* Be Healthy? A Veteran Butcher Weighs In on Nitrates

Sure, lunch meat is convenient when you're planning meals for a family on a budget, but you should always be taking a closer look at what you're buying.

For starters, our show's resident butcher and author of "The Everyday Meat Guide," Ray Venezia, explains that there are two types of cold cuts: fresh-roasted and cured.

Essentially, Venezia says, fresh-roasted means you're getting a fresh piece of meat with fresh seasoning that's roasted right in the store.

RELATED: You Should Be Asking Your Supermarket Butcher These Questions

As for cured meats, he explains, "Curing is just using salt [as] a preservative and to add flavor, mostly done with sodium nitrate."

In fact, the butcher notes that cured meats could have almost 400 times more salt content than fresh-roasted meats.

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