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How Safe is the Use of Sodium Nitrite in Cured Meats?

cured meats nitrite safe sodium
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How Safe is the Use of Sodium Nitrite in Cured Meats?

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Some of the concern about nitrite grew out of the fact that nitrites could potentially react in the stomach with certain chemicals that are released during protein digestion to produce a chemical known as N-nitrosamines. N-nitrosamines has been associated with cancer in animals. There also were a number of studies during the 1970s that linked the consumption of nitrite with cancer in laboratory animals or associated the consumption of cured meats with illnesses in children. As a result of some lingering concerns about nitrite safety, the FDA and the USDA commissioned a comprehensive review of sodium nitrite’s role as a food additive. The results were two scientific reports from the National Academy of Sciences (issued in 1981 and 1982). The 1981 report stated that nitrate does not cause cancer, although some population studies have found an association between high exposure to nitrate levels and certain cancers. Also, nitrite does not act directly as a cancer-causing agent in animals.

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