What is the Italian type of bacon called?

Pancetta is a salume made of pork belly meat that is salt-cured. Pancetta in Italy is typically cooked to add depth to soups and pastas.

For cooking, it is often cut into cubes. In Italy, pancetta is commonly served as a sliced meat, sliced thin and eaten raw. It can also be used in carbonara pasta. In Greece, patzetta can be served as a main dish.

Associated cancer risk is likely related to the presence of nitrosamines in processed meat products like pancetta. Nitrosamines are carcinogenic compounds formed by the reaction of nitrites and amines. Nitrites are added during processing to act as preservatives and as antibacterial agents against clostridium botulinum, the toxin that causes botulism. Amines are naturally-occurring compounds found in meats. Nitrosamines are often formed in high temperatures, like those required to produce bacon, one processed meat in which nitrosamines have been consistently found.

Nitrosamines have also been shown to play a part in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as type 1 and 2 diabetes.