Hormel Natural Choice Smoked Deli Ham

By: Tanya Taylor, PhD | May 24, 2007
5 stars

Hormel Natural Choice Smoked Deli Ham Hormel Natural Choice Deli Meat is one of the few deli meats made without sodium nitrates (which is a known carcinogen). There are no preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial colors, no MSG. I tried the Smoked Deli Ham variety and it rocks - hows that for a description! It's exactly what I expected, and more since it's not as thin as some of the pre-sliced deli meats that I tend to buy.

Another thing to love about Hormel Natural Choice Deli Ham is the nutrition. One serving is 4 slices and only has 60 calories, 2 grams of fat (3% of the RDA), 1 gram of saturated fat (5% of the RDA), 9 grams of protein and 1 gram of total carbohydrate. The only negative is that it has 21% of the RDA for sodium (500 mg).

The Deli Ham retails for $3.79 for a pack containing about 18 slices and it's well worth the price. Thanks Hormel for freeing me from the clutches of sodium nitrate laden deli meats. I am definitely chucking all other brands in favor of this one.

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Comments

Thu: May 24, 2007
Anonymous said:

I normally buy Oscar Meyer 98% fat free turkey variety pack but I'm pretty sure it's packed with sodium nitrates (although I should check before saying that). I'm kind of excited to go out and buy this brand since it's natural and I don't feel like I'm pumping my body full of cancer-causing crap. Do they have all-natural turkey or chicken (I'm not a ham person)?

Also, while Oscar Meyer is only 1 gram of fat, it's half the serving of Hormel so it comes out to about the same.

Oooh I'm excited! I like to cut it up into little squares and put it in my egg white omelets.

Fri: May 25, 2007
Marvo said:

I wanted to try the turkey version of this product, but at regular price, it's about $5.00. I wish they would go on sale. Also, I'm now afraid to eat the deli meats I just bought. :-(

Fri: May 25, 2007
AllieP said:

Hey folks. Give the new Oscar Mayer NATURALS a try. It comes in both turkey and ham and it totally ROCKS. After you try OM and compare to Hormel you will realize there's something just off about the Hormel kind. I am soooo excited about the new nitrite/nitrate free products coming out! We all need more natural and organic products brought in to the mainstream! I love this website!

Fri: May 25, 2007
MaryAnne said:

So Oscar Mayer has natural too? My question, not to be skeptical because this is very exciting, is how to preserve the deli meat without nitrates? There has to be something in there...

Sun: May 27, 2007
dani-wu said:

I'll definitely look for this one. Any idea whether is has sugar in it? I bought some Back Bacon yesterday (it's a Canadian thing - just real nice ham) and the ingredients listed glucose - gross!

Sun: May 27, 2007
tanya [admin] said:

Marvo: sorry I stopped eating deli meat for a while because of the nitrates (and this includes the stuff they slice at the counter too - no different).

Allie - thanks for tip. I'm going to look for the Oscar Meyer one.

MaryAnne: they use a high water pressure processing technique. This is the first time I heard about it (link - pdf) but I do know if there were nitrates in it, they would definitely have to declare it.

dani-wu: there is 1 gram of turbinado sugar which is part of the solution they use to add flavor (and to plump up the meat - sigh, but it happens).

Sun: December 2, 2007
Tom H said:

Is it trut that the Oscar Mayer smoked ham natural zip pack have absolutely no nitrates or nitrates? Thanks for your time!

Sat: December 15, 2007
kelcey said:

I have tried both the hormel and oscar meyer brands of nitrate-free ham and turkey. I do prefer the om over hormel. I also really love applegate farms sliced deli ham, also no nitrates. The turkey is too high in sodium for me but the ham rocks. More expensive than hormel or OM though, and harder to find.