Whole Story

Randal spent six years working in our store meat departments before becoming our global pork buyer. He spends most of his time with his wife and four children, and enjoys playing music and doing anything outdoors and, of course, cooking. I’m a huge bacon fan, so when the meat team suggested a blog post about our uncured bacon, my mouth started watering at the very thought! Did you know that all sizzling bacon is not the same? At Whole Foods Market we sell bacon that is cured with naturally occurring salts, rather than the usual method of curing the meat with synthetic sodium nitrates/nitrites. In fact, all of our processed meat items, including bacon, start with meat from our approved producers and must adhere to our Quality Standards, which include:

• No synthetic nitrates/nitrites
• No artificial ingredients
• No antibiotics
• No added hormones*

*Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in raising pork. To find out more about curing bacon, I spoke with Ed Ladzinski, the owner of Hahn’s of Westminster, located just outside of Baltimore. Hahn’s is one of the small processor’s for our bacon. Ed described his natural curing process for making Wellshire Uncured Bacon: “The pork bellies are put into a massager with about 4 pounds of water and flavorings (such as sea salt, sugar or spices), gently tumbled for about an hour and then rested for a day or two. This allows the bellies to pick up the flavorings before we cook them in the smokehouse with applewood chips. After four hours, we blast freeze the bellies to 22°F, which allows us to slice the bacon and package it.” Ed continued, “At the end of the day, because we don’t inject the pork bellies with water, when our bacon is cooked in the frying pan, the meat doesn’t shrink. You’re essentially getting more for your money!” Hahn’s of Westminster provides Wellshire Uncured Bacon (called Pork Side Seasoned Smoked in Canada) to all our US and Canadian stores. Since Hahn’s is a small processing company (they currently have 70 employees), they are able to cure bacon in a truly artisanal way and produce bacon for Wellshire exclusively for Whole Foods Market stores. In doing so, the partnership between Hahn’s and Wellshire supports the small community of Westminster, MD. That’s a win for everyone. Have you tried this tasty bacon? Tell us what you think!