Whole Story

Is your motto, “Everything’s better with bacon”? Are you on the lookout for an incredible deal on enough bacon to make the mouth-watering sandwiches, salads, burgers and breakfasts you crave? Read on to find out how to enter to win a Year of Bacon! In the current issue of The Whole Deal value guide, we share $49+ in coupons, Sure Deals, 10 budget-friendly recipes and money-saving tips and we also get to the meat of the matter – bacon. It’s sizzling hot these days. So what makes ours better? Made with high-quality pork raised and processed to our strict Quality Standards for Meat, it’s the wonderful, flavorful bacon you want without having to break your piggy bank. Compare to see what you really get for your money.

Let’s start by checking out the ingredients:

365 Everyday Value^® Uncured Center Cut Smokehouse Bacon ingredients: Pork, Water, Sea Salt, Evaporated Cane Sugar

Major national brand uncured bacon ingredients: Pork, Water, Sea Salt, Evaporated Cane Syrup, Cultured Celery Juice

Now let’s take a closer look because there’s more to bacon than meets the eye (or the frying pan). Our bacon has standards beyond flavor and sizzlability.

No antibiotics and no added hormones What about how the animals were raised for the bacon you are buying? We believe in great-tasting meat from healthy animals. While federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in raising pork, our standards don’t allow them in any meat production and they also say “no antibiotics, ever.”

No animal byproducts When animals are fed animal byproducts in their feed, their health can be put in jeopardy. When an animal is unhealthy, the meat from it can be affected, so our standards prohibit animal byproducts in the animal's feed. There’s no similar claim by that major national brand.

No gestation or farrowing crates Animal welfare scientists have proven that sows in crates and stalls, commonly used on many pig farms, show abnormal repetitive behaviors, can go into a state of learned helplessness and are prone to leg problems due to inactivity. Not surprisingly, pigs are in hog heaven in an environment that promotes natural behaviors like moving around and stretching their legs. There’s no need to rattle any cages around here; we prohibit the use of crates and cages by all of our pork suppliers.

Bedding required in housing Rather than spending their lives on barren, slatted flooring as is customary practice, all our pork suppliers are required to provide their pigs with good quality bedding, which helps keep them warm and comfortable. While our producers’ pigs rest easy, are the pigs behind the other brand’s bacon losing sleep? When you put quality standards at the center of the plate, 365 Everyday Value^® Uncured Center Cut Smokehouse Bacon smokes the competition. If you’re asking what’s the deal about uncured bacon: Under federal labeling laws, processed meat products such as bacon, hot dogs and lunchmeats that don't utilize synthetic nitrates or nitrites must be marked “Uncured–No Nitrates or Nitrites added.” Instead, uncured bacon often contains naturally occurring nitrates from sea salt and vegetable powders or juices. Our standards prohibit synthetic nitrates and nitrites in all products throughout our stores.

Win A Year of Bacon! To celebrate our sizzling hot bacon, we’re holding an online contest on Facebook to find the next big bacon idea. Bacon chocolates, cocktails and salt have been hits. What’s next? Share your idea and be entered to win a Year of Bacon. (Yes, a Year of Bacon!) Enter and vote for your favorites in the Bacon Smackdown going on between now and July 31 at facebook.com/wholefoodsmeat. The grand prize winner chosen by Whole Foods Market receives a Year of Bacon, and the top 10 ideas as “liked” by the Facebook community receive $50 Whole Foods Market gift cards. Winners will be announced August 10, 2012. We expect the competition to be smokin’ hot, so good luck to all! Make sure you enter the contest on the Whole Foods Market Meat Facebook page, not in the comments below. But if you want to tell us why you’re hot for bacon, we’d love to hear about it.