I love discovering new products!  This one is for all you bacon lovers out there…Lilydale Daystarters!

I discovered this product on a recent grocery store tour.  Daystarters are a turkey bacon that actually looks and taste like back bacon.  I tried this product last weekend and it was delicious!  And at only 25 calories per slice is it too good to be true?

The answer is, likely.  The nutrition facts table on the package touts 25 calories per slice; however I’m not sure that’s possible.  Once cooked, each slice weighed about 15g.  That’s important because for those of you who don’t know, protein of any kind equals 4 calories per gram.  Even if we assume each slice is pure protein (which is likely untrue as each slice may also contain some fat which has even more energy at 9 calories per gram), at 15g cooked weight each slice will pack about 60 calories.  Still, not too bad when you compare that to real bacon which averages 75 calories for the same portion size.  Not to mention the more than 3g of saturated fat you save over regular bacon for those of you heart conscious consumers out there.

A word to the wise however; bacon, whether turkey bacon or not, is something I do not recommend on a daily basis for two reasons.  First, the sodium content is too high to be consuming as the main source of protein, and second, cured meats such as bacon or turkey bacon are preserved using sodium nitrite.  Nitrite may be carcinogenic (cancer causing) when heated at high and dry heat, so slow cooking or basting would be best – enjoy!