NITRATE AND NITRITE IN FOOD

Considerable attention has been paid in the last few years to a class of compounds called ‘Nitrosamines’ which could be formed in foods as the result of a reaction between nitrites and amines. In certain species of laboratory animals under specific conditions, some of these nitrosamines have been shown to be carcinogenic. Food scientists have had to look at the use of nitrites in foods and have had to establish whether there is any possible danger in their use