Deli is Short For Delicious—But Are Your Pastrami and Bologna Sandwiches Giving You Cancer?

, ,

School’s back in session, and kids are boarding the bus with lunchboxes in tow. Many of them contain sandwiches stuffed with turkey and ham slices, bologna, even salami—but where did these staples of the lunch break, not to mention the charcuterie platter, come from? Long before the 1900s meat-cute that birthed the deli sandwich, preserved meats were a standby in human diets: from dried yak cured in salt in the Himalayas, to pork fermented into salami in Italy, to beef pressed in the saddle and pickled in horse sweat in Central Asia, people all over the world invented ways to make meat inhospitable to microbes, more portable—and even more delicious! But, in recent years, these meats have gotten a bad name: in 2015, the World Health Organization even labeled them a carcinogen. So should you chuck the corned beef for the sake of your health? This episode, join us for a deep dive on the science behind whether your charcuterie could kill you—plus, the story of how cured meats became a staple of American diet and culture, thanks to German immigrants and Jewish delis, military-manufactured meat glue, and some truly orgasmic sliced pastrami on rye.

One of the famously stacked deli sandwiches from the now-closed Carnegie Deli in New York City. (Image Credit: Flickr)

Episode Notes

Jeremy Umansky

Jeremy Umansky is a chef and owner of Larder, a James Beard-nominated delicatessen in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also the author of the book Koji Alchemy, and appeared on our episode about koji to talk about its magical, meat-transforming powers.

Ted Merwin

Jewish food expert Ted Merwin is the author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli.

David Sax

Journalist David Sax is the author of Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen.

Sussman & Lev, the first Jewish delicatessen in Baltimore, Maryland, shown here around 1930. (Image credit: JMore)

Robert Turesky

Robert Turesky is a professor at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on the causes of human diseases, including cancer.

Wes Osburn

Wes Osburn is an associate professor in meat science at Texas A&M.

Anastasia Marx de Salcedo

Writer Anastacia Marx de Salcedo is the author of the book In Defense of Processed Food, as well as Combat Ready Kitchen: How the US Military Shapes the Way You Eat, which she also discussed in our episode about food and the military.