We all know that there will be nitrite in some foods, excessive intake may cause cancer, but some pickled foods will definitely add nitrite when making, this substance will cause cancer, why must it be put, not to let go? To understand this, we must first know what nitrite is.
What exactly is nitrite?
Nitrite is a salt containing nitrite anions, is a nitrogen-containing compound that is common in nature, is a white to slightly yellow crystalline or powdery substance, extremely soluble in water and hygroscopic, often used in industrial production and pharmaceuticals, but the reason why it is widely known is that it often appears in the ingredient list as a food additive and preservative.
As a chemical additive, the name usually indicated on the packaging for sale is sodium nitrite, which is used in industry for the preparation of azo dyes and other colorants; the nitroso compounds it produces are used in the rubber industry; and sodium thiosulfate is used together and can be used as an effective drug for cyanide poisoning.
As a food additive, sodium nitrite is used to accelerate the curing of meat, by reacting with the myoglobin in meat, giving meat a seductive pink color and special flavor, and can inhibit the oxidation of sour lipids and the growth of pathogenic microorganisms, effectively prolonging storage life and improving taste and color, so it is allowed to be applied to food additives in an appropriate range.
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It is widely believed that sodium nitrite is not effective in controlling gram-negative intestinal pathogens, such as Salmonella and E. coli, while other food additives (such as potassium sorbate) can provide similar bacteriostatic protection, but cannot provide the pink color needed to appear fresh, so the two additives are commonly used in many meat foods.
When making processed meats, manufacturers often add ascorbic acid (that is, vitamin C) to inhibit the production of the carcinogen nitrosamine, sometimes using lower-cost but fairly effective ascorbic acid to replace, and adding α-tocopherol to enhance antioxidant effects.
What are the effects of nitrite on the human body?
On October 27, 2017, the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer included nitrite in the list of 2A carcinogens, eating 0.3 to 0.5 grams of nitrite can cause poisoning, 3 grams can lead to death, nitrite is mainly due to the cooking and digestion process will react with amines in food, producing carcinogen nitrosamine compounds, has been confirmed to cause cancer, especially stomach cancer and colon cancer.
One of the main roles of red blood cells in the human body is to transport oxygen, excessive intake of nitrite will affect the operation of red blood cells, resulting in hypoxia, the human body will also cause the skin to turn blue and purple due to insufficient blood oxygen content, and in severe cases, it will lead to lack of oxygen in the brain, and even death.
Nitrite can enter the fetus through the placenta, resulting in fetal malformations, so pregnant women should try to ensure the freshness of ingredients, avoid ingestion of nitrite, and infants within 6 months should also avoid ingesting nitrite, because the infant's intestinal development is not yet perfect, the absorption rate of nitrite is higher than that of adults, so it is easier to cause nitrite poisoning, you can refer to the hot search of the previous period: "Parents use vegetable water to wash milk powder to cause infant poisoning."
How to avoid human injury caused by excessive nitrite
When purchasing cured meat food, choose the food produced by regular manufacturers, usually the production process of regular manufacturers will have strict standards, quality control is more controlled, and conditions should be eaten as little as possible.
Try to avoid eating cooked food stored at high temperature or room temperature, if there is leftover food, it should be stored in the refrigerator refrigeration area, and eaten as soon as possible, fully heated before eating, leftover meals stored for more than 2 days should be discarded and no longer eaten.
Pickles should be eaten now, if it is necessary to pickle for many days, because there will be a nitrosin peak during the pickling process, that is, the nitrite content will increase within 2 weeks from the beginning of pickling to the next 2 weeks, and after 2-3 weeks, it will gradually fall back to within the standard intake limit, so it should be eaten after 2-3 weeks of pickling to avoid nitrite poisoning.
Daily salt and sodium nitrite used in pickles should be stored separately to prevent sodium nitrite from being used as daily table salt.