Should nitrite be banned in the catering industry?

Previously, Fang Xin, a deputy to the National People’s Congress and deputy secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed that catering companies should be prohibited from using nitrite. Fang Xin stated in the proposal that “six nitrite poisoning incidents occurred in January and February this year, and more than 30 people were poisoned.” Although Beijing has banned the use of nitrite in the catering industry since 2000, in June 2010 Still, 30 people were poisoned in a noodle restaurant, and in April 2011, another girl was poisoned and died [1].

Nitrite is widely used in catering businesses and lacks management

Because adding nitrite can make the meat turn pink after cooking, taste more tender, and can significantly extend the shelf life. Therefore, it is generally favored by chefs. A study once conducted a survey on nitrite awareness among 150 chefs in Jinan City. It was found that about 65% of chefs believe that adding nitrite and other food additives can attract consumers and enhance the deliciousness of dishes[2].

Regarding the use of nitrite, the above-mentioned study surveyed 60 restaurants in Jinan City and found that ordinary restaurants often use nitrite in sauce-stewed dishes and are used to make sauces for various meat products. And boiled, star-rated hotels are also used, but the proportion is lower. In addition to the direct use of nitrite, the nitrite used in restaurants also comes from meat tenderizer, color protectant and marinade (powder). After sampling and analyzing these products, researchers found that 24 samples all contained nitrite, but only 2 products were stated in the ingredient list. What's more, the nitrite content in two samples exceeded the national permitted additive dosage by 20 times and 40 times respectively [2].

Researchers found that, on the one hand, meat tenderizer powder is commonly used in all restaurants and hotels when cooking meat, and is even used in aquatic products. The dosage is not controlled and there is no record of use. On the other hand, restaurants and hotels do not have fixed channels to purchase these products, so product quality is difficult to guarantee [2].

Why add nitrite?

Naturally cooked meat appears white, light brown or brown, and generally the redder the raw meat, the darker the brown color after cooking. Nitrite can combine with the heme in the meat to form pink nitrosylheme [3], so that the cooked meat will be pink and look more attractive. This is the color-producing effect of nitrite.

Fan Zhihong, associate professor of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, School of Food, China Agricultural University, once wrote: Nitrite has been deeply integrated into the cooking of various meat products, from being only used for pigs, beef, and mutton, to All animal foods are added, even chicken, duck, and aquatic products are not spared. The use of nitrite or nitrite-containing meat tenderizer, meat water-retaining agent, and sausage improver to make meat products can make the meat products pink in color, tender in taste, and not easy to spoil. It has become a secret of most chefs. [4].

How much do consumers know about nitrite?

So do consumers know what nitrite is? In an awareness survey of 500 consumers, researchers found that 55.6% did not know that pink meat dishes were added with nitrite or marinades containing nitrite, and 27.2% did not know that nitrite was added to What substance has 34.4 unknown toxicity of nitrite [2].

Nitrite is usually a white crystal that looks similar to table salt commonly used in the kitchen, but it is a toxic substance with an LD50 of 22 mg/kg, which is about 1.32 for a person weighing 60 kg. gram. Nitrite reacts with protein decomposition products under acidic conditions, easily producing nitrosamine carcinogens [3].

Should the use of nitrites be banned in the catering industry?

So should such a toxic substance be banned? To quote a recent buzzword from Guoke: Anyone who talks about toxicity regardless of dose is a hooligan.

Nitrite is a legal and common food additive. It is mainly used in meat products to develop color, prevent corrosion and improve flavor. It is licensed for use in countries around the world. Almost 100% of Western-style meat products add nitrite, but they are strictly monitored during use to ensure their safety [3].

According to my country's national standard "Food Additive Usage Standard GB 2760-2011", the maximum allowable usage amount of nitrite as a color-protecting agent and preservative in meat products, canned meat, etc. 0.15 g/kg, and the residue amounts are slightly different: the residue amount in canned meat shall not exceed 50 mg/kg, the residue amount in Western-style ham shall not exceed 70 mg/kg, and most other meat products (including cured meat products, Such as bacon, cured meat, salted duck, Chinese ham, sausage; sauce-braised meat products; smoked, roasted, grilled, fried meat, meat enema, fermented meat products, etc.), the residual amount should not exceed 30 mg/kg [5].

In other words, as long as it meets national standards, the use of nitrite in food should be safe.

However, such strict dosage limits are only possible in a standardized food processing industry, and restaurants are too subjective in their use, making it difficult to ensure that there is no overdose. Moreover, the proportion of nitrite in meat tenderizing powder and marinated meat has increased, and the labeling is very irregular. Even if the chef wants to control it, it is difficult to know the exact dosage when using it.

On the other hand, as a color-protecting agent, the color development degree of sodium nitrite increases with the increase in the amount added. In the experiment, the color development was poor when the addition amount was less than 24 mg/kg, the color development effect was achieved when 24-40 mg/kg was achieved, and the effective addition amount when the color development was good was about 132 mg/kg, but at this time the nitrous acid content of the final product was The residue level of roots is about 40 mg/kg [3], which has exceeded the national standard’s allowable residue level for most meat products (30 mg/kg). Nowadays, meat products in restaurants are generally brightly colored, and it is difficult not to worry about whether the nitrite residues exceed the standard.

Therefore, the use of nitrite in the catering industry does have certain safety risks. For this reason, the Beijing Municipal Government requested in 2000 to strengthen the sales, use, and management of nitrite. In 2011, the Beijing Food Safety Office once again emphasized that food additive operators are strictly prohibited from selling nitrites, nitrates and other substances that may seriously endanger human health due to abuse, or food additives and seasonings containing the above substances to individuals and catering service units. . However, how to implement this ban is still a difficult problem facing the industrial and commercial departments. In addition to a comprehensive ban, there may be some more clever ways to deal with the nitrite problem that we can learn from.

Feng Ping, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and chief engineer of the China Meat Research Center, once said in an interview with other magazines: In Europe, there has long been a special "pickling salt", which is table salt and A mixture of nitrites, specially used for marinating meat products at home or in restaurants [6]. "The nitrite here is added in proportion, but it is impossible to use it excessively, because if you use too much, not only will there be more nitrite, but the meat will be too salty to eat. Therefore, they use salt to control the nitrite. ."[7]