Since the beginning of time, scientists have always thought Slim Jims were made up solely of everlasting beef and awesome, but Wired has dug a little deeper and examined the true contents of the checkout aisle wonder.

Among the ingredients: mechanically separated chicken (yum!), corn and wheat proteins, dextrose, salt and… potentially lethal sodium nitrite?!

Wired explains about the latter:

Cosmetically, this is added to sausage because it combines with myoglobin in animal muscle to keep it from turning gray. Antibiotically, it inhibits botulism. Toxicologically, 6 grams of the stuff-roughly the equivalent of 1,400 Slim Jims-can kill you. So go easy there, champ.

I don’t know about you, but as an occasional Slim Jim chomper, the fact that there’s a potentially dangerous preservative in there makes me feel all the more tougher for wolfing it down and surviving to boast. Macho Man Randy Savage would be proud.

What’s inside a Slim Jim? [Wired]
(Photo: wring)
(Thanks, Joanne!)

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.