Bacon strip: a few grams of food with a lot of salt per gram

A meta-analysis of 41 randomized studies with about 87,000 people found that programs aimed at cutting red and processed meat changed how much people ate by a small amount, a standardized effect of 0.25 (95% CI 0.11 to 0.38), measured mostly by self-report. It is the strongest evidence on this page, and it measures eating habits. It says nothing about what bacon does to the body. A cooked strip is small: US survey data put a thin slice at 5 g, a medium one at 8 g and a thick one at 12 g, and crispness and cut change that. What each gram carries is salt. Sixty-nine samples of restaurant bacon averaged 1830 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), ranging from 1280 to 2590 mg. By arithmetic from that table a medium slice holds roughly 146 mg, and home-cooked bacon will differ. In UK data, grilling streaky bacon drives off water, so per 3.5 oz (100 g) sodium rises from 1260 to 1680 mg and energy from 276 to 337 calories.

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Restaurant cooked bacon carried 1830 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g) on average, with samples ranging from 1280 to 2590 mg. — 69 samples of cooked cured pork bacon from restaurants analyzed for USDA Foundation Foods (n = 69) Evidence E source
  Sodium mean 1830 mg per 3.5 oz (100 g) (median 1800, range 1280-2590); protein 40.9 g per 3.5 oz (100 g) (range 31.8-55.0)
• Grilling streaky bacon drives off water, so per 3.5 oz (100 g) it rises from 276 to 337 calories and from 1260 to 1680 mg sodium. — UK composition data for streaky bacon rashers, raw and grilled (CoFID 19-016 and 19-018) Evidence E source
  Raw: 276 calories, 15.8 g protein, 23.6 g fat, 57.3 g water, 1260 mg sodium; grilled: 337 calories, 23.8 g protein, 26.9 g fat, 44.0 g water, 1680 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g)

What a real portion looks like

• A cooked slice of pork bacon weighs 5 g if thin, 8 g if medium and 12 g if thick, so one strip is a few grams of food. — USDA FNDDS portion weights for cooked smoked or cured pork bacon (FNDDS code 22601000) Evidence E source
  Thin slice 5 g, medium slice 8 g, thick slice 12 g after cooking; 1 oz raw yields 8 g cooked; quantity not specified 16 g

What cooking and storage change

• Raw bacon can carry high Clostridium perfringens counts, and in US processor data no cooked ready-to-eat product exceeded 2-log CFU/g. — industry data from three US commercial meat processors: raw chicken, not-ready-to-eat bacon and 3,141 plus 2,886 cooked ready-to-eat products (n = 6027 cooked products) Evidence C source
  Five raw bacon samples exceeded 4-log CFU/g; no cooked sample exceeded 2-log CFU/g
• US rules cap ingoing nitrite in pumped bacon at 120 parts per million because cured bacon can form nitrosamines when cooked. — pumped (injection-cured) bacon regulated by USDA FSIS Evidence E source
  Nitrate banned in pumped bacon; ingoing nitrite limited to 120 ppm; sodium ascorbate or erythorbate required to lower residual nitrite

What it does to your health

• Cohort data link each daily serving of processed meat with 0.57 lb (0.26 kg) more weight gain per year, with low certainty. — adults in cohort studies; three studies with 381,291 people for measured weight (n = 381291) Evidence C source
  +0.26 kg/y per 1 daily serving (95% CI 0.03-0.48); waist +0.14 cm/y (0.02-0.26); GRADE low
• In a 12-week RCT of 113 adults, a meat-based diet raised fecal water DNA damage by 15.97%, a cancer-linked marker rather than cancer itself. — 113 healthy adults aged 18-50 randomized, 103 completed, 12 weeks free-living (n = 113) Evidence B source
  +15.97% DNA damage (95% CI 4.61 to 27.32; p = 0.006) after the meat-based diet; no significant change on the pesco-vegetarian diet

Safety, limits and interactions

• In a Swedish cohort of women, the highest bacon or side pork intake was linked to a 55% higher stomach cancer risk, at the edge of significance. — 61,433 women of the Swedish Mammography Cohort followed for 18 years, 156 stomach cancer cases (n = 61433) Evidence C source
  HR 1.55 (95% CI 1.00-2.41) for bacon or side pork, highest vs lowest; all processed meats HR 1.66 (1.13-2.45)

What people believe that the data does not support

• In an RCT of 3,518 US adults shopping online, red meat warning labels and a 30% tax cut processed meat picks, mostly processed pork. — 3,518 US adults in a naturalistic online grocery store, October 2021 (n = 3518) Evidence B source
  All three arms (labels, 30% tax, both) led to fewer items with processed meat than control, driven by processed pork

What is still unknown

• Across 55 cohorts, cutting processed meat by 3 servings a week tracked with only a very small drop in mortality, on low-certainty evidence. — 61 articles on 55 cohorts with more than 4 million participants (n = >4 million) Evidence C source
  Very small decrease in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, stroke, MI and type 2 diabetes per 3 fewer servings a week; low certainty
• A meta-analysis of 41 randomized studies found that programs to cut red and processed meat had only a small effect, SMD 0.25. — 35 papers, 41 randomized studies, 112 interventions, about 87,000 subjects (n = 87000) Evidence A source
  Red and processed meat interventions SMD 0.25 (95% CI 0.11-0.38); all meat and animal product interventions SMD 0.07 (0.02-0.12)

The bottom line

The health evidence covers processed meat as a group, with bacon rarely separated out. Pooled cohort data from 381,291 people link each daily serving of processed meat with 0.57 lb (0.26 kg) more weight gain a year (95% CI 0.03 to 0.48), rated low certainty with heterogeneity of 93%. Across 55 cohorts with more than 4 million people, eating 3 fewer servings a week went with a very small drop in deaths, strokes, heart attacks and type 2 diabetes. That evidence is also low certainty, and the abstract gives no number for the size. In a 12-week randomized trial of 113 healthy adults, a meat-based diet raised DNA damage in fecal water by 15.97% (95% CI 4.61 to 27.32). That marker is linked to cancer and is not cancer itself, the diet mixed red and processed meat, and the trial was open label. Who should be careful. Among 61,433 Swedish women followed for 18 years, the highest intake of bacon or side pork went with a 55% higher stomach cancer risk (HR 1.55, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.41), from only 156 cases and with the lower bound touching no effect. Raw bacon is not ready to eat. In data submitted by three US processors, five raw bacon samples carried more than 4-log CFU/g of Clostridium perfringens, and no cooked product exceeded 2-log. US rules ban nitrate in pumped bacon and cap ingoing nitrite at 120 parts per million, because cured bacon can form nitrosamines when cooked. That is a regulatory limit and does not measure what anyone eats. We hold no card on bacon in pregnancy, in children or with medicines, so this page says nothing about them. In a randomized trial of 3,518 US adults shopping in a simulated online store, red meat warning labels, a 30% tax or both led people to pick fewer processed meat items, mostly processed pork. The purchases were hypothetical, and the abstract gives no size per arm.

Sources

1. bstr-r6-02 · USDA Foundation Foods, dataset
   Pork, cured, bacon, cooked, restaurant: Sodium, Na 1830.0 mg per 100 g, range 1280.0-2590.0 (median 1800.0), samples 69; Protein 40.9 g, range 31.8-55.0 (median 40.2)
   USDA FoodData Central, Foundation Foods, release 2026-04-30, Pork, cured, bacon, cooked, restaurant · checked 2026-09-29
2. bstr-r6-03 · CoFID 2021, dataset
   CoFID 19-016 Bacon rashers, streaky, raw: Energy 276 kcal, Fat 23.6 g, Protein 15.8 g, Water 57.3 g, Sodium 1260 mg; CoFID 19-018 Bacon rashers, streaky, grilled: Energy 337 kcal, Fat 26.9 g, Protein 23.8 g, Water 44.0 g, Sodium 1680 mg
   CoFID 2021 (Public Health England), codes 19-016 and 19-018 · checked 2026-09-29
3. bstr-r6-01 · USDA FNDDS portion weights, dataset
   Pork bacon, smoked or cured, cooked (FNDDS 22601000, FDC 2705889): 1 thin slice (yield after cooking) 5 g; 1 medium slice (yield after cooking) 8 g; 1 thick slice (yield after cooking) 12 g; 1 oz, raw (yield after cooking) 8 g; Quantity not specified 16 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 22601000, FDC 2705889 · checked 2026-09-29
4. bstr-r6-04 · prevalence study
   Although five bacon (not RTE) samples exceeded 4-log CFU/g C. perfringens, none of the cooked samples (regardless of process deviations association) exceeded 2-log CFU/g, suggesting that the high initial levels in the raw product were vegetative cells which were eliminated during the cooking process and therefore would not grow during cooling.
   J Food Prot, 2026 · checked 2026-09-29
5. bstr-r6-05 · federal rule
   The use of nitrate or nitrite to cure pumped bacon can cause the formation of nitrosamines in the cooked product. As such, FSIS regulations prohibit the use of nitrate in such products and limit the amount of ingoing nitrite to 120 parts per million (9 CFR 424.21 and 9 CFR 424.22).
   USDA FSIS, Removal of Pumped Bacon Sampling Regulations, Federal Register 2025-12212, 1 July 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
6. bstr-r6-06 · meta-analysis of cohort studies
   Three studies (n = 381 291) were included in the random-effects model of measured body weight, resulting in a summary increase of 0.26 kg/y per 1 daily serving of processed meat (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.03-0.48; τ2: 0.03; I2: 92.95%).
   Nutr Rev, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
7. bstr-r6-09 · RCT
   FW genotoxicity increased significantly after MBD (+ 15.97%DNA damage; 95% CI 4.61 to 27.32; p = 0.006), with no significant within-group changes in MBD-T or PVD.
   Sci Rep, 2025 · checked 2026-09-29
8. bstr-r6-07 · prospective cohort
   After adjustment for potential confounders, the hazard ratios for the highest compared with the lowest category of intake were 1.66 (95% CI = 1.13-2.45) for all processed meats, 1.55 (95% CI = 1.00-2.41) for bacon or side pork
   Int J Cancer, 2006 · checked 2026-09-29
9. bstr-r6-10 · RCT
   Compared to control, all three interventions led participants to select fewer items with processed meat (driven by reductions in processed pork) and (for the tax and warning labels + tax interventions only) fewer items with unprocessed meat (driven by reductions in unprocessed beef).
   Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 2024 · checked 2026-09-29
10. bstr-r6-08 · meta-analysis of cohort studies
    Likewise, low-certainty evidence was found that a reduction in processed meat intake of 3 servings per week is associated with a very small decrease in risk for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, stroke, MI, and type 2 diabetes.
    Ann Intern Med, 2019 · checked 2026-09-29
11. bstr-r6-11 · meta-analysis of RCTs
    Interventions aiming to reduce only consumption of red and processed meat were more effective (SMD = 0.25; 95 % CI: [0.11, 0.38]), but it remains unclear whether such interventions also decrease consumption of other forms of MAP.
    Appetite, 2026 · checked 2026-09-29