 Our story begins on a Norwegian fur farm in 1957. Mink were dropping dead left and right from a malignant new liver disease. The clue came when livestock started dying from liver cancer as well. What tied all the cases together was the use of fish meal in their diets. Fish meal that the country had just started preserving with sodium nitrite. Subsequent research discovered nitrite under certain circumstances can form nitrosamines, which directly attack DNA, or universally condemned as one of the key carcinogens in cigarette smoke. The occurrence in food was raised as a matter of gravest concern nearly a half century ago. Now we know the nitrites added to processed meats can form these carcinogenic nitrosamines, now recognized as among the most potent chemical carcinogens. For example, pregnant women who eat hot dogs risk having children with brain tumors, the number two pediatric cancer. Then children who eat lots of hot dogs have nearly 10 times the odds of developing childhood leukemia, the number one pediatric cancer. This year in Meat Science, an article about the role of ham in a healthy diet breathed a sigh of relief. Aspects related to health and well-being are increasingly important factors in consumer decisions, although the great palatability of ham largely outweighs such considerations.