I received an email this week asking about celery extract. This is a product often listed on “natural” processed meats, such as Maple Leaf Naturals. Given that we know that not all phosphorus additives have phosphorus in the name, this is a great question. Thanks for reaching out.
The easy answer:
Celery extract does not appear to be associated with increased phosphorus content as it does not appear to be a phosphorus based additive. But if you want to know more of the specifics -keep reading!
What do we know about phosphorus additives in processed meats?
The most thorough investigation I have seen with regards to phosphorus content of processed Canadian meats was done by a Canadian Renal Dietitian in Ontario! You can read her thesis here. Or you can check out one of the articles she wrote about it.
In her thesis she describes how they chemically analyzed 76 meat, fish and poultry products for potassium, phosphorus and sodium. Specifically, they were looking to see at how the mineral content was changing based on the presence of potassium and phosphorus additives.
The authors reported that phosphorus additive found in the products of their sample were a variation of sodium phosphate. No other phosphorus additives were found. Foods that listed containing sodium phosphate were higher in phosphate than foods without sodium phosphates.
I reached out to the author and confirmed that Maple Leaf Naturals products were included in their sample. The author confirmed that the phosphorus content of these celery extract products were equivalent to “reference” meats, which were chosen as they didn’t contain additives. These results were not specifically reported in the study as their results are amalgamated.
What do we know about Celery Extract for curing?
Just to be sure I wasn’t missing anything, I did a bit of research about celery extracts for this post.
According to the CFIA by definition curing involves edible muscle + salt + nitrites (either sodium or potassium). Yum!
According to this 2021 review in Meat Science, the demand for “nitrite-free” cured meat can be partly attributed to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. In 2018 this group classified processed meat as carcinogenic. Cured meats are one type of processed meat.
Nitrites are used in meat processing because they are excellent at preventing the growth of Clostridium Botulinum (aka botulism). Nitrites also help preserve meat colour, texture and provide some of the characteristic flavour associated with cured meats.
Celery extracts are “natural” sources of nitrites and enable food producers to label foods as “no nitrites added”. However, this simply means that nitrite as a specific ingredient haven’t been added. The product still contains nitrites. The celery extracts are the nitrites. So from a cancer-preventing perspective, these products may not necessarily be healthier.
Take Aways
For adults living with kidney disease who want to eat processed meat and are looking for a lower phosphorus alternative – meats cured with celery extract appear to be a good choice.
These products may still be higher in sodium and nitrates than fresh meat, so likely remain in the “treat food” category as opposed to “every day food” category. But from an options perspective for our patients out there looking to enjoy a hot dog or a ham sandwich – these products seem like a good place to start.
