Editing Food preservation (section)

=== Curing ===
[[File:Prague powder No 1.jpg|thumb|Bag of Prague powder#1, also known as "[[curing salt]]" or "pink salt". It is typically a combination of salt and sodium nitrite, with the pink color added to distinguish it from ordinary salt.]]
{{Main|Curing (food preservation)}}
The earliest form of curing was dehydration or [[Food drying|drying]], used as early as 12,000{{nbsp}}BC. [[Smoking (cooking)|Smoking]] and [[salting (food)|salting]] techniques improve on the drying process and add antimicrobial agents that aid in preservation. Smoke deposits a number of pyrolysis products onto the food, including the [[phenol]]s [[syringol]], [[guaiacol]] and [[catechol]].<ref name="Msagati, T. 2012">Msagati, T. (2012). "The Chemistry of Food Additives and Preservatives"</ref> Salt accelerates the drying process using [[osmosis]] and also inhibits the growth of several common strains of bacteria. More recently [[nitrite]]s have been used to cure meat, contributing a characteristic pink colour.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nummer|first1=Brian|last2=Andress|first2=Elizabeth|title=Curing and Smoking Meats for Home Food Preservation|url=http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/lit_rev/cure_smoke_cure.html|publisher=National Center for Home Food Preservation|date=June 2015|access-date=30 May 2017|archive-date=24 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124073339/http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/lit_rev/cure_smoke_cure.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2015, the [[International Agency for Research on Cancer]] of the [[World Health Organization]] classified [[processed meat]]—i.e., meat that has undergone salting, curing, and smoking—as "carcinogenic to humans".<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/news/world-health-organization-says-processed-meat-causes-cancer |title= World Health Organization Says Processed Meat Causes Cancer |author= Stacy Simon |work= Cancer.org |date= 26 October 2015 |access-date= 14 January 2016 |archive-date= 7 January 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170107043239/http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/news/world-health-organization-says-processed-meat-causes-cancer |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34615621 |title = Processed meats do cause cancer – WHO|author= James Gallagher|work= BBC |date=26 October 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2015/pdfs/pr240_E.pdf| title=IARC Monographs evaluate consumption of red meat and processed meat |work= International Agency for Research on Cancer |date= 26 October 2015}}</ref>