Most prepared meats, sausage, salami, ham, bacon, etc. all have preservatives. Unless one does his own butchering and uses the meat immediately, preservatives are unavoidable.

Saltpeter, potassium nitrate, was colloquially supposed to be a sexual supressant. In the boys school I attended at one time, the story was circulated to all new boys that saltpeter was added to our food to keep our sexual activity low.