Why Andrew Zimmern Refuses To Eat SPAM

Andrew Zimmern, a noted television personality who made a career out of eating international foods that most Western palates find strange in "Bizarre Foods," refuses to eat SPAM. For at least a decade, he's famously detested the processed pork. He has made it very clear it's not about the type of meat used; he would happily eat musubi made with homemade potted meat and loves scrapple. His complaints with SPAM have been that it's "chemically treated," "made in a factory," and "loaded with more salt, sugar, and fat than you should eat in an entire week."

From an Ask Me Anything on Reddit 11 years ago to another on his own Youtube channel last year, people love to ask him why. In Hawaii – where the food has a long history and has become a part of the culinary culture – he had to explain himself on the local news. In the more recent AMA on his channel he boils it all down to one simple, hard-to-argue-with fact: he just doesn't like the taste and texture of it.

One thing Zimmern gets wrong about SPAM is the chemical treatment. The ingredients in the processed meat are pork with ham, salt, water, potato starch, sugar, and sodium nitrite. While excessive sodium nitrite can be harmful, unless he also eschews hot dogs and salami, that shouldn't be his main sticking point. However, a serving does have about a third of your daily recommended maximums of saturated fat and sodium, so his salt and fat critique is fair. In that case, he should pick up a can of SPAM Lite or SPAM 25% Less Sodium!

For texture and taste, perhaps he needs to try SPAM fries made in the air fryer. You can slice them thin for added crispiness and even bread them for crunch. Add some cayenne, smoked paprika, and garlic powder to add to the meaty flavor. If he tried SPAM tacos, he could find salsas to enhance or cover up the flavors he dislikes. Drown the taco in a spicy, smokey, sweet, and fruity guajillo salsa, and even a hater like Zimmern will struggle to turn it down.