Evaluation of nitrite residue in Sausages, marketed in Tabas city

Nitrite and nitrate are used in some products, such as sausages. Excessive consumption of these chemicals is hazardous for humans, so the use of these compounds must be within the standards ranges. The aim of this research was measurement of nitrite residue in meat products which were marketed in Tabas city. Totally100samples from four different meat products were collected randomly and studied in the food laboratory of South Khorasan provincial of standard and industrial research service by spectrophotometric method. Data were analyzed with SPSS-19 software. The statistical analysis of data showed that the nitrite content in Mortadella, dry sausages, Bockwursts and cocktail sausages was higher than Iranian standard limit in 24%, 16%, 12% and 4% of samples, respectively and in this regard, 14% of all samples were distinguished unusable. The average amount of nitrite in all samples was 72.33± 2.8ppm, moreover the highest and the lowest level of nitrite observed in Mortadella (92±4.7 ppm) and Cocktail sausages (52.1±3.04 ppm), respectively, also the average amount of nitrite in all samples and different brands, was lower than the Iranian standard limit, significantly (P<0.05). The results of this survey indicate that nitrite residue in 20% of Mortadella & dry sausage samples and 8% of Bockwursts & cocktail sausage samples were higher than the standard limit, so it is believed that stricter preventive measuring is necessary and partial replacement of nitrate with natural preservatives is also recommended