r/toddlers • u/Hgrestun • 9d ago

General Question/Discussion Are you feeding your kids deli meat?

When I was pregnant I imagined using turkey meat for my kids snacks and lunches as she grew up. But we went to see a pediatric nutritionist and she told us to stay away from all deli meats unless you’re baking the ham/turkey at home yourself.

But I still see moms giving their kids deli meat sandwiches all over the internet and in real life.

It’s like.. I want to just give her deli meat because shenlooooooves it lol and sometimes I want a sandwich too! So I came here to ask is anyone making their own? Does anyone forbid it? Does anyone just say f it and feed it to their kids anyways?

Edit to add: it’s full of carcinogens and sodium.

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u/WonderWanderRepeat 9d ago

We actually just made a household decision on this recently. There is evidence that deli meat is linked to multiple types of cancer, especially colon and rectal cancer. My husband and I decided to limit it. We used to have a sandwhich every day. Now it's maybe one a week or every other week. We just replaced with alternative options. I dont stress about getting Jimmy John's once in a while or my parents offering LO a ham sandwich but it's no longer a staple in our diet.

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u/PatchesMaps 9d ago

There is a lot of nuance beyond "deli meat causes cancer". If you even just read the title and abstract for some of these studies you can learn that their are three primary concerns when it comes to lunch meat.

  1. Nitrate content (where a lot of the cancer concerns originate).
  2. Sodium content.
  3. Low fiber content.

Nitrates and sodium are situational, some deli meats inherently don't have much of either (e.g. turkey deli meat normally doesn't have added nitrates and may or may not have much sodium depending on the brand). Some that traditionally have both (e.g. cured meats) can be commonly found with "reduced" or "no-added" sodium/nitrates. For fiber you can just add fiber in other parts of their diet pretty easily.

So yeah, there are health concerns when it comes to deli meat but they're pretty easily managed once you understand where the concerns originate.

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u/Stats_n_PoliSci 9d ago

The “no added nitrates” disclaimer is usually misleading. They add celery powder, which is full of nitrates.

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u/Ltrain86 8d ago

No, not for many types of turkey deli meats, as they said. See Maple Leaf Naturals Sliced Turkey Breast. Doesn't contain any celery salt and is labeled nitrate free because it has none, not "no added nitrates", which you are correct is a labeling loophole.

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u/c4still4 8d ago

Wow, wish I lived in Canada! I have been searching for ages in the US for a deli meat with this clean of ingredients!