Food Standards and Quality Control

Food Standard and Quality Control

Lesson 18 : Food Toxicants - Contaminants

Nitrosamines

• Sodium nitrite is a food preservative commonly used to prohibit Clostridium botulinum growth in cured meats and animal feed.
• Overcooking of meat products cured with nitrite is known to result in the production of nitrosamines.
• Nitrosamines are a class of compounds that are carcinogenic in a wide range of animal types.
• The most common target organ is the liver. The nitrosamine, N-nitrosodimethylamine, has been found in fish feed and is known to be produced by chemical reaction between a naturally occurring amine, dimethylamine, in the fish feed and sodium nitrite.
• Maximum levels have been set for nitrate in leafy vegetables, for nitrate/nitrite in cured meats, and for nitrosamines in food contact materials.