Watch the holiday ham!

As we sit down to holiday dinners this month, be careful of what lurks on the festive dinner table. Store-bought, honeyed hams can be loaded with dangerous preservatives called nitrates. Nitrates (also called nitrites) are used to set color in food.

And what do we get for eating something so beautifully preserved? A heaping helping of carcinogens!

Not kidding.

Nitrates, which are also commonly found in lunch meat, hot dogs, bacon, sausages and other processed meats, are banned in other countries, including a country famous for its meats, Germany, because they are proven to cause cancer.

So why does the FDA and the USDA allow nitrates in our meats despite it's carcinogenic tag? Your guess is as good as mine. But it simply isn't good to guess if there are nitrates in your meet. Read labels, avoid processed meats in general and ask questions — like, "Hey, holiday ham guy, is this processed with nitrates?" If he can't answer, pick up a frozen one that's labeled nitrate-free and save yourself the Russian roulette — and maybe a little cash, too.

For more on nitrates, head here.

P.S.: Nitrates also can be found in some beer, nonfat dry milk, tobacco and some rubber, including pacifiers and nipples, so be careful!