Four out of nine commercial brands of natural/organic bacon showed significantly greater (P<0.05) growth by inoculated Clostridium perfringens than that observed for the conventionally cured control (n=1). All natural/organic commercial ham analyzed in the study (n=7) showed significantly greater (P<0.05) growth by inoculated Clostridium perfringens than that observed for the conventionally cured control hams (n=4). These products also demonstrated a wide variation in growth response. This means that natural and organic processed meats may require additional protective measures in order to consistently provide the same level of safety from bacterial pathogens that is achieved by conventionally cured meat products.