Does Pork Have Nitrates? Examining the Presence of Nitrates in Pork

1Department of Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, BangladeshFind articles by

1Department of Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, BangladeshFind articles by

1Department of Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, BangladeshFind articles by

1Department of Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, BangladeshFind articles by

2Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 88400, Sabah, MalaysiaFind articles by

2Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu 88400, Sabah, MalaysiaFind articles by

1Department of Food Engineering and Tea Technology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet 3114, BangladeshFind articles by

Nitrite is one of the most widely used curing ingredients in meat industries. Among other things, nitrates are useful in cured meats and play a big role in giving them their unique qualities, like their pink color and savory flavor. Nitrites are used to stop the oxidation of fats and proteins in meat and to stop the growth of harmful microorganisms like Clostridium botulinum. Synthetic nitrite is frequently utilized for curing due to its low expenses and easier applications to meat. But it is connected to the creation of nitrosamines, which has made some people worried about their health when it comes to meat products that use it. Because people are learning more about how synthetic nitrites are used, they want healthier meat products that are cooked with natural nitrite sources. However, it is important to know the different roles that nitrite plays in curing meat so that new nitrite-free alternatives can be found. This review focuses on the effects of using nitrite in meat and how it contributes to the creation of nitrosamines that can cause cancer. Natural alternatives to nitrite are also looked at.

Meat curing is an ancient method of food preservation that is still widely used today [1]. It means adding nitrite/nitrate salt, common salt (NaCl), and spices to fresh meat at different stages of processing and with different amounts of grinding [2]. Before refrigeration was invented, meat was kept fresh in ways that were found to be effective at keeping it from going bad after it was killed and increasing the food supply during times of shortage. Even though it has been lost to time, the curing process is thought to have come from ways of keeping salt fresh as early as 3000 B.C. C. [3].

Among the various additives used in meat curing, nitrite salt is very significant. Nitrite is a major intermediary throughout the biological N-cycle present in soil and water surface [4]. It’s a versatile chemical with a wide range of uses, including dye manufacturing and food preservation [5]. Nitrites in various meat products are significant preservatives and impede the growth of several unwanted micro-organisms [6,7]. Nitrite is added to cured meat in amounts lower than 150 ppm to stop the growth of bacteria like Clostridium botulinum, which is harmful to humans and animals [8]. Nitrite is mostly used to keep meat fresh for two main reasons: (1) It stops Clostridium botulinum from spreading and making toxins that make food poisonous [9, 10]. (2) to provide the necessary bright red color in meat products like sausage, ham, salami, etc. [11]. (3) To give cured meats their characteristic texture and aroma [12]. Moreover, nitrite stops the oxidation of lipids in meat products, which keeps them from going rancid (losing their flavor) [13].

Nitrite is a major chemical that has big effects on human health. Studies have shown this since the middle of the 1980s. To get dietary nitrates, vegetables are a great choice. They are also a major source of endogenous nitrite and nitric oxide (NO) in the body [14]. The body’s enzymatic synthesis makes nitric oxide (NO), which controls blood pressure, wound healing, the immune system, and neurological processes [15]. Nitric oxide (NO) controls blood flow in heart tissues and maybe in other body tissues as well, according to new research [16,17]. Also, making nitric oxide and nitrite regularly may help keep heart diseases like high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, and stroke at bay [18].

While high nitrite levels are very bad for adults, they are especially dangerous for babies because they can cause methemoglobinemia [19]. Furthermore, cancer-causing nitrosamines are formed when nitrite reacts with secondary or tertiary amines [20]. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) recently said that processed meat is cancerous after looking at enough epidemiological data [21]. IARC also reported that ingested nitrite from processed meat can lead to colorectal cancer in human. Because of these harmful effects, many countries have severely restricted their use on processed food products [22]. The toxicity of nitrite is ten times that of nitrate. People can only take 80 to 800 mg of nitrate per kg of body weight or 33 to 250 mg of nitrite per kg of body weight before they die. Long-term eating more red meat, especially processed meat, is linked to a higher risk of death, colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease in both men and women, according to a large prospective US study. U. cohort studies as well as meta-analyses of epidemiology [23]. Concerning these issues, an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0. Joint Expert Committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization (JECFA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) set the safe level of 0.7 mg of nitrite per kg of body weight for healthy newborns, children, and adults [24].

A study from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) in 2007 found a moderate but significant link between eating more processed meat and a higher risk of colorectal cancer [25]. As a result, specialists advised limiting red and processed meat consumption. Regardless, eating less meat might not significantly lower the risk of cancer, and it might come with a number of negative effects, such as losing nutrients, especially iron (Fe). Instead of waiting for people to eat less processed meat, it would be smart to put money into making healthier meat products now.

More and more people are worried about the long-term bad effects of sodium nitrite, so most developed countries strictly regulate their use in cured meat products. At the same time, the new ideas of “all-natural” and “clean label” have made people want healthier and better meat products. Due to health hazards, consumers choose natural additives over chemicals in processed meat. As a result, research on substituting natural ingredients for the chemical additive nitrite has grown over the years. To lower the chance of nitrosamines forming and lower the possible health risks to humans, researchers are looking for good ways to cure meat. One way is to use different ingredients instead of nitrite salt that have the same effects but don’t pose any health risks [26]. However, no single alternative that provides the multi-functions of nitrite in meat products has yet been found. One idea for solving this problem is to use “hurdle technology” to cure meat, in which small amounts of nitrite are mixed with other ingredients [27].

The purpose of this paper is to look at the part nitrite plays in cured meats, the bad health effects of eating too much nitrite, and the available information on possible whole or partial replacements for nitrite salt in processed meat.

To find the data needed for this study, researchers searched well-known databases like Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus. For this review paper, about 84 English-language studies and articles from 2000 to 2021 were gathered and looked at.

Sources of Nitrite

Nitrites play a vital role in the biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen in natural water. They can be found in the air (as nitrogen dioxide) [32], in food [30], in plants [31], in water [29], and in biological samples [33].

In the biological nitrogen cycle, bacteria change nitrogen into nitrate, which plants then take up and use in their tissues. Animals that consume plants utilize nitrate to produce proteins. Animal excrement and microbial breakdown of animals and plants after death return nitrate to the environment. Microorganisms can change nitrate, which is the ammonium ion, into nitrite. This reaction can happen in the environment and in people’s and animals’ digestive tracts. Bacteria in the environment change nitrate to nitrite, which is then changed back to nitrogen to complete the cycle.

In the entire nitrogen cycle, nitrite is the intermediary compound derived from nitrification. Several types of bacteria, including Nitrobacter and Nitrorosomonas, work together in a process called nitrification to change ammonium into nitrates. Nitrite is made in the process first. The following are the two steps in the nitrification process, along with their equations:

• Nitrosomonas bacteria change ammonia into nitrite (2NH4 + 3O2 → 2NO2– 4H + 2H2O) (1).
• (2)The nitrite is converted to nitrate by Nitrobacter bacteria [35]. 2NO2− + O2 → 2NO3−(2) .

4. Cured Flavour Development

Flavor is the sum of many things about meat, like its smell, taste, texture, and temperature, that affect how a person thinks about it [48,49]. It is generally agreed that nitrite changes the taste of meat, but the reactions that cause this are not fully understood.

It is thought that one way that nitrite might change the taste of meat products by stopping “warmed-over” flavor is by acting as an antioxidant against lipid oxidation. Aldehydes such as pentanal, hexanal, etc. which are made when lipids oxidize, are slowed down in cured meat when nitrite stops lipid oxidation [49]. Uncured meat has considerably greater levels of hexanal than cured meat. Furthermore, cured meat has low levels of carbonyl compounds, including 2-heptanone, 3-hexanone, 2-nonenal, and 2-octanal [50]. Thus, nitrite has been demonstrated to simplify the flavor spectrum. Using nitrite doesn’t change the way certain flavor compounds are made, but it does stop the creation of aldehydes (hexanal), which hides the sulfur-containing chemicals that give cured meat its flavor.

Nitrite, on the other hand, has been shown to cause the production of Strecker aldehydes. Strecker aldehydes are made when dicarbonyl breaks down amino acids in Maillard reactions. These aldehydes are connected to the flavoring of meat [51,52]. After adding nitrite to fermented sausages, the production of Strecker aldehydes increases. This could be because there are more carbonyl molecules, which can join with amino acids to make Strecker aldehydes because nitrite is an oxidant [52].

Less than half of the volatile chemicals that are usually found in uncured meats have been found in cured meats. A lot of the difference is thought to be due to the production of some by-products of lipid oxidation. Alcohols and phenolic compounds may go through nitration reactions, which may have an effect on volatile chemicals. S-nitroso thiol production and disulfide bond breakdown during meat curing is likely to cause increases in sulfur compounds. The antioxidant effect of nitrite explains why oxidation products, such as hexanal, are reduced in cured meats. More research is needed to fully understand the reactions, mechanisms, and volatile compounds that give cured meat its smell and taste [46].

Sensory research shows that the flavor of cured meat comes from both slowing down the oxidation of lipids and a mix of complex cured aromas and flavors that work together with the lack of rancid flavors [53]. In this manner, it can be said that cured meat flavor is the combination of two things:

• ✓Lipid oxidation suppression by nitrite;
• ✓Nitrite related flavor development.

NITRATES in Processed Meat? [Enjoy your Bacon!]

FAQ

What meats are high in nitrates?

What meat has the least nitrates?

What do nitrates do to your body?

Is sodium nitrate bad for you?

Which meats have added nitrates?

The most common meats with added nitrates are the more processed and packaged meat options like bacon, sausage, hot dogs, ham, beef jerky, and deli meats.

Why is pork not recommended to eat?

This is not true, some cuts like sirloin and pork rump steak, for example, are very healthy, even healthier than beef and chicken. Only the fattest cuts like bacon and crackling should be avoided.

Which meat has the highest nitrates?

Of these, the following have the highest levels of nitrates: Ham. A 100-gram serving of cured ham has a little less than 1 milligram of nitrates. This is the source of the iconic pink color of cured hams. Bacon. A 100-gram serving of bacon has 5.5 milligrams of nitrates. Deli meat.

Are meat products nitrate-free?

Poultry, fish, or even red meat are all animal-based proteins naturally high in the co-enzyme CoQ10 that helps maintain good nitric oxide levels in the body. And thankfully, it’s easier than ever to find nitrate-free meat products these days. “Luckily the meat industry has adapted,” Davis says.