Sizzlean was a cured meat product manufactured throughout the 1970s and 1980s and marketed as a healthier alternative to

bacon Bacon is a type of Curing (food preservation), salt-cured pork made from various cuts of meat, cuts, typically the pork belly, belly or less fatty parts of the back. It is eaten as a side dish (particularly in breakfasts), used as a central in ...

. Swift & Co. originally produced the product and rolled it out to major

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

markets in 1977.Reckert, Clare M. (26 August 1977)
Esmark Profit Up 14.3% in Quarter; Dividend Raised
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The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' ("The processed meats company through its sales of Brown 'N Serve and Dry Sausage product lines plus new products, mainly Sizzlean, produced increased earnings over last year.")Farm Journal
Vol. 101 (1977) ("Latest entry in the race to build a better bacon is Sizzlean from Swift & Company. Already available in a number of US cities, it's one more indication that formed and flaked meat can compete with substitutes for new markets")Finding the Bacon at Swift
''Financial World'' (Vol. 146, No. 13) (1977) ("Swift's Sizzlean breakfast strips, introduced to half of the country are doing "incredibly well." Says Watchman, "Sizzlean will actually turn a profit while it's still being launched." ") In 1990, ConAgra Foods acquired Swift from

Beatrice Foods Beatrice Foods Company was a major American food conglomerate founded in 1894. One of the best-known food processing companies in the U.S., Beatrice owned many well-known brands such as Tropicana, Krispy Kreme, Jolly Rancher, Orville Reden ...

and continued to market the product until about 2005. Sizzlean was the subject of a series of commercials featuring the tagline: “Move over, bacon, there’s something leaner!” or “Move over, bacon, now there’s something meatier!” Although the product contained less fat than bacon, it was still 37% fat by weight, causing complaints that the "lean" name was not accurate.(11 November 1985)
Lean Language, Not Cuisine
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See also