>>>If its properly cured there's no reason you shouldn't be able to keep it out of the fridge.
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>>Cured meats are now almost the number one food to avoid for your health. How on earth did everyone survive in the days of cured meat? What was the average life span?
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>They may be, now, because the industry has paid enough research to show that the sick, uncured, meats with all the water and emulsifiers in them are better for your health :).
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>The excessive salt may be a problem, but then if you don't salt the rest of your food, on the average the problem gets small enough for your organism to deal with, without much strain. I'd rather go for good ham, no matter how salty, than for any of those swimming in brine and soaked with who knows what.

You beat me to it about excessive salt. Refrigerated bacon already tastes very salty to me without adding more salt as a preservative.

The only food I add salt to is French fries. Of course, there is plenty of salt in food already, especially those prepared foods we Americans love so much.