WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – Imagine breakfast without bacon. Now you don’t have to. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has banned the production and sale of cured bacon in the country because of its link to cancer.

Bacon is either cured or uncured while all bacon is soaked in brine to give it flavor and prevent botulism. It is traditionally cured using a mixture of salt, water and synthetic sodium nitrite that acts as a preservative and made by mixing Nitrates, a naturally occurring compound in plants, with certain bacteria.

The USDA ban does not cover uncured bacon. Uncured bacon uses natural nitrates found in juice, sea salt and celery powder to achieve a similar taste, so uncured bacon does not have potentially harmful chemicals akin to sodium nitrite.

Soon after the  surprising USDA announcement, the National Association of American Chefs (NAAC) filed papers in court seeking an injunction to stop USDA from implementing the ban.

“This will end the culinary career,” a spokesperson for NAAC said. “Bacon is to hotels and restaurants just like butter is to Julia Child and Paula Deen!”

Consumers nationwide are joining the NAAC in supporting the injunction.

In fact, a million march is being planned in Washington, D.C. the Sunday before Thanksgiving to demand the reinstatement of cured bacon as the beloved miracle ingredient in home cooking and holiday meals.

Meanwhile, big box stores like Costco and large supermaket chains like Safeway have reported that their freezers have practically been emptied in the last 24 hours by customers panicking about the soon-to-disappear cured bacon.