Nitrite Residual Changes in Four Types of Heated Red Meat Products During Storage at 4 Degrees Centigrade

The consumption of meat products is increasing in Iran. The use of sodium nitrite as an antioxidant, preservative and color fixative is very common in the meat industry, which is a cause of concern due to its hazardous effects in humans it may also be considered as a toxicant and carcinogenic compound due to conversion into nitrosamine compounds. Considering these alarming facts, this study was designed to determine the changes of sodium nitrite residue in four types of processed red meat products during storage at 4ºC.

In this descriptive study triplicate samples of four types of heated red meat, with meat contents of 40%, 55%, 80%, and 90%, and containing 120 ppm added sodium nitrite, from an Iranian meat processing plant were investigated. During processing and storage at 4ºC for 87 days, the samples were analyzed for nitrite sodium residues, in duplicates, at 21 time points, according to AOAC method.

The initial sodium nitrite residue in all the 4 product types decreased significantly by the end of the 87-day period, as follows: in the 40%-meat sample, from 66 ppm to 21 ppm in the 55%-meat sample, from 63 ppm to 20 ppm in the of 80%-meat sample, from 53 ppm to 4 ppm and in the 90%-meat sample, from 51 ppm to 3 ppm. The data also showed that, as regards the final nitrite residue levels, there was no significant difference between samples with 40% and 55% meat content, or between those with 80% and 90% meat content. However, significant decreases were observed between the 40%- or 50%-meat samples and the 80%- or 90%-meat samples.

With respect to the hazards that may be caused by nitrite and its derivatives for human health, it is recommended that the acceptable level of nitrite be based on meat content of the processed products, taking into consideration its anti-microbial and organoleptic characteristics.