Determination of nitrite residues in meat products marketed in Tabriz by spectrophotometric method

Nitrite and nitrate salts are used in meat products as preservative against growth of dangerous bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum, delaying meat corruption and color fixative. The use of these additives, increases risk of carcinogenic nitrosamine production and carcinogenicity. Hence, the use of these additives should be according approved standard (maximum 120 ppm for nitrite). This descriptive, analytic study was designed to measure nitrite content in different types of meat products marketed in Tabriz in 1394, based on random sampling. A total 90 samples of different kinds of meat products samples produced in 6 factories East Azerbaijan (60 samples) or other provinces (30 samples) was collected according national standard No.690 about meat product sampling. The amount of nitrite in the meat products was measured according to Iranian national standard No. 2303 with spectrophotometry method. The products analyzed until 4th days after production for East Azerbaijan products and less than 30 days in the cases of other provinces products. The result of this experiment showed that the residual concentrations of nitrite were between 3.3-94.9 ppm in two kinds of sausage that was less than approved national maximum residual limits. According to one way ANOVA test the differences between the nitrite residues in sausage with different meat content were not significance (P>0.05). However, this study showed that nitrite residues decreased in meat products according time of production significantly (P