[Nitrates and nitrites in some commercial delicatessen products]

After a study published in 1974 on nitrate and nitrite contents of 105 cooked ham samples, we undertook in 1975 and 1976 another investigation of 166 samples of various meat products. The results are better than those of 1974: the permissible nitrate and nitrite levels of hams are more respected. But in some other meat products (sausage meat for instance) the levels are sometimes very high. Taking into account the quantity of meat products which can be normally consumed daily, nitrate and nitrite amounts absorbed only by this way are very near, if not exceeding, the daily acceptable intake recommended by the International Committee on Food Additives of the World Health Organization. It seems necessary to reexamine the safety margin left in some cases, to the consumer.