Great Value Hickory Smoked Bacon, 16 oz — DUMP

Munch or Dump rates Great Value Hickory Smoked Bacon, 16 oz by Great Value (Walmart) DUMP — score 20/90.

Six additives deep in a chemical cure: sodium nitrite, phosphates, and erythorbate doing the preserving. Processed meat is the one food category the WHO links directly to colorectal cancer, and 'naturally smoked' doesn't change the chemistry. The smoke is natural; the cure isn't.

Why this verdict

• Cured with sodium nitrite, which can form nitrosamines when bacon hits a hot pan — the reason processed meat carries a WHO Group 1 classification
• Sodium phosphates and sodium erythorbate round out an industrial curing system, not a kitchen recipe
• Roughly 40% fat by weight with a heavy saturated share, plus serious sodium in every slice
• The short ingredient list doesn't rescue it — every item after 'pork' is there to cure, color, and preserve

Ingredients (6)

• Pork (safe) — The actual food here — everything after it is processing.
• Salt (moderate) — ~260mg sodium per packet — sweet AND salty is the palatability play.
• Sugar (moderate) — Commonly used sweetener but contributes empty calories.
• Sodium phosphates (caution) — Moisture binder; adds to dietary phosphate load.
• SODIUM ERYTHORBATE (moderate) — Cure accelerator that locks in the pink color.
• Sodium Nitrite (caution) — Synthetic curing agent linked to nitrosamine formation in processed meat.