Nitrite in processed meat products in Khartoum, Sudan and dietary intake

Nitrite intake from locally processed meat in Khartoum, Sudan was estimated and compared to established safety levels. For this purpose, 90 locally processed meat samples were collected randomly from retail outlets and analysed for nitrite levels according to the British standard 1992 protocol and 350 purchasers at retail outlets were questioned about their consumption pattern. Nitrite concentrations in all samples were below the Sudanese maximum limit (ML) of 100 mg kg^-1 for nitrite in meat products. Dietary exposure to nitrite for adults and children was estimated to be in the range of 0.026-0.128 and 0.107-0.511 mg kg^-1 bw day^-1, respectively. This implies that nitrite intake for a significant number of consumers, especially children, are likely to exceed the established acceptable daily intake (ADI) of 0-0.07 mg kg^-1 bw/day of JECFA, in spite the fact that meat samples collected complied with the current ML.