Survey of food products for volatile N-nitrosamines

A variety of food products containing nitrite were analyzed for 14 volatile N-nitrosamines by using a method demonstrated to be sensitive to 10 ppb. A total of 121 food samples were screened for volatile N-nitrosamine content. N-Nitrosopyrrolidine was confirmed in fried bacon at levels up to 139 ppb. N-Dimethylnitrosamine, N-nitrosopyrrolidine, and N-nitrosopiperidine were also confirmed in spice-cure mixtures at levels ranging from 50 to 2000 ppb.