A critical look at EWG’s “Dirty Dozen Guide to Food Additives” offers an opportunity for those who want to learn how to recognize activist-generated junk science and fear mongering. My blog post on Friday provided an overview for a series of posts on the topic. Today let’s start with EWG’s first allegedly bad food additive: nitrates/nitrites, which they complain are used in bacon. Yet there’s no need to stop enjoying this sizzling treat, because EWG’s complaints are half-baked. EWG indicts these substances largely because they are classified as “probable carcinogens” by the International Agency on Cancer Research (IARC). The group also notes that these chemicals “may be associated with brain and thyroid cancers,” although “a causal link has not been established.” Saying that bacon “may be associated with” cancer isn’t saying much because associations do not prove cause-and-effect relationships and are often the result of a statistical accident as EWG admits. Read more.