Organic Celery Juice Concentrate

Natural and organic meat makers cannot add purified sodium nitrite, so they cure with high-nitrate vegetables instead. Celery is a common choice: its juice is concentrated, and bacteria turn its nitrate into the nitrite that does the curing.^1,2,4,5

1. 01 // Source Organic celery Celery is among the vegetables that carry more than 2,500 mg nitrate per kg, which is why curers use it.
2. 02 // Process Juiced and concentrated Juice is pressed from the stalks and much of the water is evaporated, concentrating the nitrate and celery flavor compounds.
3. 03 // Process Cultured Nitrate-reducing bacteria turn nitrate into nitrite, either inside the meat during a holding step or beforehand at the supplier.
4. 04 // Output Concentrate or powder Sold as liquid or dried powder. Pre-converted celery powders tested at about 17,000 to 22,500 ppm nitrite equivalent.

1. 01

   Cures without listed nitrite

   Organic and natural products cannot use chemical preservatives. Celery's nitrate, reduced to nitrite by a starter culture, gives typical cured color and flavor instead.¹

2. 02

   Meets organic rules

   The USDA National Organic Program does not permit purified nitrite, so organic meat processors have to cure with plant ingredients such as celery or Swiss chard.²

3. 03

   Adds celery flavor

   Celery's phthalides, such as senkyunolide and sedanolide, give it its aroma. In a broth topper that flavor is probably part of the point. In cured ham, 0.35% gave noticeable vegetable off-flavor.^2,3

How much In ham trials, vegetable juice powder at 0.20% matched sodium nitrite for sensory scores, while 0.35% left an unwanted vegetable flavor.³

1. Brands say

   Natural nitrates cure meat and block spoilage bacteria

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   With a starter culture it cures. In 2007 trials, ham at 0.20% matched sodium nitrite controls, and in sausage every treatment except the 0.20%/30-minute one also matched, since incubation time mattered more than dose. Reviewers call its antibotulinal effect unclear.^3,4,7

2. Brands say

   Adds vegetable goodness to your dog's food

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   Celery is safe for dogs and carries some fiber and vitamins, per the AKC. A concentrate used at fractions of a percent, with the fiber juiced out, delivers none of it in a useful amount, and no dog study has tested it.^3,11

3. Critics say

   Nitrite in dog food causes cancer

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   IARC classes processed meat as carcinogenic in people, and nitrite reacts with amines to form nitrosamines. In one sausage study, more celery powder meant more of the nitrosamine NPIP. No study has looked at cancer in dogs from cured toppers.^5,6

4. Brands say

   No nitrates or nitrites added

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   Consumer Reports tested 31 deli meats and found uncured products carried nitrate and nitrite at levels similar to conventionally cured ones. In 2020 FSIS said it would bar the claim for any nitrite source, celery included.^8,9

5. Owners say

   Natural nitrite is safer than synthetic

   Outruns the evidence

   Evidence

   1. Strong
   2. Some
   3. Thin
   4. None

   Once formed, nitrite from celery is the same compound as nitrite from a curing salt. In a fermented sausage study, celery powder left NDMA unchanged but raised NPIP as its share rose, so the natural source showed no safety edge.^6,8