Here's what really goes into the imitation crab you find in supermarket sushi. If artificial additives are your biggest concern, you're better off buying nitrate-free bacon and making your own crumbled bacon at home.Īn item's true ingredients aren't always evident from its name. Of course, you should double-check the ingredients if want to avoid animal products. Jars advertising 'real bacon' contain real bacon, while labels that spell bacon differently (like McCormick Bac'n Pieces) are likely made with meat alternatives. The variation in bacon pieces can be confusing to consumers, but there's a rule of thumb you can follow when shopping for bits that aren't made from meat (or when looking for ones that are). The ingredients list for Oscar Mayer's Real Bacon Bits, another pork-based product, looks similar. Other flavors and preservatives added to the condiment include smoke flavoring, sugar, sodium phosphate, and potassium chloride. Hormel Real Bacon Pieces are made from actual pork that's been cured with salt, sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite-preservatives that are also used to cure the bacon you find in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Other bacon bits on the market are decidedly not vegan-friendly. Caramel color, red 40 dye, maltodextrin, lactic acid, yeast extract, and the flavor boosters disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate are added to give the soy flakes their meaty taste and appearance. Shop Hormel Real Bacon Bits - 3 Oz from Randalls.

In place of cured pork, the food item contains textured soy flour and canola oil. McCormick Bac'n Pieces-one of the more popular brands-are 100-percent vegan. Some so-called 'bacon' pieces don't even contain meat.Īccording to Mashed, the components of your pre-made bacon bits vary by maker. Though they look and taste like bacon, the ingredients lists of these products are often more complicated than their name suggests. Whether you sprinkle them onto your salad bar lunch or your baked potato side, the convenience item can be used anywhere you would add crumbled bacon cooked at home. One of the more mystifying innovations of the processed food era has been shelf-stable bacon bits in a jar.

Hormel real bacon bits