Merino Leonardo, Darnerud Per Ola, Toldrá Fidel, Ilbäck Nils-Gunnar
a Chemistry Department , National Food Agency , Uppsala , Sweden.
b Department of Food Science, Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (CSIC) , Paterna (Valencia) , Spain.
Food Addit Contam Part A Chem Anal Control Expo Risk Assess. 2016;33(2):186-92. doi: 10.1080/19440049.2015.1125530. Epub 2016 Jan 21.
The food additive nitrite (E249, E250) is commonly used in meat curing as a food preservation method. Because of potential negative health effects of nitrite, its use is strictly regulated. In an earlier study we have shown that the calculated intake of nitrite in children can exceed the acceptable daily intake (ADI) when conversion from dietary nitrate to nitrite is included. This study examined time-dependent changes in nitrite levels in four Swedish meat products frequently eaten by children: pork/beef sausage, liver paté and two types of chicken sausage, and how the production process, storage and also boiling (e.g., simmering in salted water) and frying affect the initial added nitrite level. The results showed a steep decrease in nitrite level between the point of addition to the product and the first sampling of the product 24 h later. After this time, residual nitrite levels continued to decrease, but much more slowly, until the recommended use-by date. Interestingly, this continuing decrease in nitrite was much smaller in the chicken products than in the pork/beef products. In a pilot study on pork/beef sausage, we found no effects of boiling on residual nitrite levels, but frying decreased nitrite levels by 50%. In scenarios of time-dependent depletion of nitrite using the data obtained for sausages to represent all cured meat products and including conversion from dietary nitrate, calculated nitrite intake in 4-year-old children generally exceeded the ADI. Moreover, the actual intake of nitrite from cured meat is dependent on the type of meat source, with a higher residual nitrite levels in chicken products compared with pork/beef products. This may result in increased nitrite exposure among consumers shifting their consumption pattern of processed meats from red to white meat products.
食品添加剂亚硝酸盐（E249、E250）常用于肉类腌制，作为一种食品保存方法。由于亚硝酸盐对健康存在潜在负面影响，其使用受到严格监管。在早期研究中我们发现，若将膳食硝酸盐向亚硝酸盐的转化考虑在内，儿童亚硝酸盐的计算摄入量可能超过每日可接受摄入量（ADI）。本研究检测了瑞典儿童常吃的四种肉类制品中亚硝酸盐水平随时间的变化情况：猪肉/牛肉香肠、肝泥以及两种鸡肉香肠，还研究了生产过程、储存以及水煮（如在盐水中慢炖）和油炸如何影响最初添加的亚硝酸盐水平。结果显示，从向产品中添加亚硝酸盐到24小时后首次对产品进行采样期间，亚硝酸盐水平急剧下降。在此之后，亚硝酸盐残留水平继续下降，但速度要慢得多，直至达到推荐的保质期。有趣的是，鸡肉制品中亚硝酸盐的持续下降幅度远小于猪肉/牛肉制品。在一项针对猪肉/牛肉香肠的初步研究中，我们发现水煮对亚硝酸盐残留水平没有影响，但油炸会使亚硝酸盐水平降低50%。在利用香肠数据代表所有腌制肉类制品并考虑膳食硝酸盐转化的情况下，模拟亚硝酸盐随时间的消耗情况，4岁儿童的亚硝酸盐计算摄入量通常超过ADI。此外，腌制肉类中亚硝酸盐的实际摄入量取决于肉类来源类型，鸡肉制品中的亚硝酸盐残留水平高于猪肉/牛肉制品。这可能导致消费者在将加工肉类的消费模式从红肉转向白肉产品时，亚硝酸盐暴露增加。
