In this Substack essay, Robert Malone looks at how the term "processed meat" has evolved from a description of traditional preservation methods into a catch-all category used in nutrition research. He explains that curing meat with salt, smoke, fermentation, drying, and time has been practiced for thousands of years, producing foods such as prosciutto, Jamón Ibérico, country ham, and traditional salami. Modern epidemiological studies, however, often group these foods together with industrial products like hot dogs, deli meats, and bologna despite their vastly different ingredients, manufacturing methods, and food chemistry.

Malone argues that the industrialization of American meat production—not simply the use of sodium nitrite—fundamentally changed how processed meats are made. Standardized curing methods, refrigeration, large-scale distribution, and changes in pig breeding all made meat production more efficient, but they also created products that differ substantially from traditionally cured meats. These distinctions are largely ignored in nutritional epidemiology, where all processed meats are frequently treated as though they represent the same dietary exposure.

If foods preserved by centuries-old techniques differ biologically from highly formulated industrial products, Malone argues that researchers should identify which characteristics actually contribute to disease risk instead of relying on a broad classification.