Sodium nitrite, which is commonly used in a variety of cured meats from bacon to deli meats to hot dogs, is one of the most misunderstood ingredients in meat and poultry products and other foods but a new Media MythCrusher document from the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) aims to correct many of the myths.
While media reports often describe sodium nitrite as a “known carginogen,” a two-year, U.S. National Toxicology Program animal feeding study concluded that nitrite does not cause cancer at levels used in the meat industry. It is also a myth that cured meat products are the most common source of nitrite in our diets. Scientists say that 93 percent of human nitrite intake comes from vegetables, particularly root vegetables such as celery, beets, carrots, spinach and lettuce, and from saliva, thanks to the body’s own healthy, nitrogen cycle. Less than five percent of human nitrite intake is sourced to cured meats.