Nitrate as Food Additives

Nitrate (NO₃ ^-), as potassium and sodium salts, and its congener nitrite (NO₂ ^-), are extensively used in the food industry as additives, due to their pleiotropic functions and high food-technological significance. During the manufacturing and processing of various foodstuff (meat and poultry, cheese and fish), they act as preservatives and organoleptic-properties enhancers by inhibiting microbial growth, fixing color, improving flavor, and preventing lipid peroxidation. The mechanisms, the spectrum of action, and the chemical reactivity of these compounds have been the object of many types of research, although some activities need to be clarified.

Unfortunately, uncontrolled ingestion of nitrite and nitrate has been correlated with severe toxic effects, such as methemoglobinemia and cancer spread; as a result, NO₃ ^- and NO₂ ^- levels in foods, as well as their intake and dietary exposure, are monitored and strictly regulated worldwide, and their risk/benefit assessment is subject to periodic re-evaluation.