Seriously? Sometimes I just can not think of enough ways to ask the same question in order to get all of the information I need. I have been purchasing local, corn free, soy free, home grown bacon from the same farmer for at least 6 months. His lovely workers have answered my questions every which way to Saturday, and I was reassured the bacon was all natural and free of anything I listed as being a no-no. It was smoked in a basic brine of seasonings. Sounds reasonable, no?
Well this morning I over hear the farmer himself answer the same question to another patron. The answer? The FDA requires some form of sugar in the preserving and preparing of bacon in order for it to be USDA certified. The only way to avoid is to make it yourself, which he strongly recommends even though he does not use any form of corn syrup.
WHAT?! Thank the Lord my Ellie does not chew and swallow. But no doubt her rounds of sucking on bacon have been adding a nice dose of sugar to her already stretched system. Not to mention I have been successfully sugar-ing my family without knowing it.
Lesson learned. Go directly to the farmer. Do not pass go, and do not stop me on the way.
UGH!
P.S. It has been brought to my attention that it *is* possible to find bacon made with honey.
We had a similar experience with a farm about their beef, milk, and eggs concerning soy! When we finally got to the farmer he tried to convince me that because he grinds soy beans and doesn't use commercial soy meal that it was not a problem...actually tried to convince me that "it depends on what you mean by soy." Ugh. Luckily this was pre-purchase for us!
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