Just some informative comments about nitrites/nitrates from Chris Kresser:
https://chriskresser.com/the-nitrate-and-nitrite-myth-another-reason-not-to-fear-bacon/
I think the problem is certain beloved foods make people think something must be wrong with them: coffee/caffeine, chocolate, eggs, cheese, bacon and ham. They get studied over and over again, always looking for a problem. These are traditional foods made the pretty much still the same way, although certainly in the case of big factory meat processing who knows what is happening there. So buy cured meats still made with traditional methods from a reputable supplier, or learn to make your own!
Other foods constantly get pushed as being healthy when they are anything but: fruit juices, highly processed breakfast cereals, margarine, highly processed seed oils. Lots of marketing dollars pushing those as “healthier” alternatives to traditional foods.
Oh, and don’t even get me started on the dietary advice to limit salt!