Residual nitrite in processed meat products in Costa Rica: Method validation, long-term survey and intake estimations

Ingestion of high amounts of nitrite due processed meat consumption could produce negative effects in human health. Here, we investigate long-term residual sodium nitrite content in processed meat products in Costa Rica to provide the first estimations of nitrite daily intake. An extensively validated analytical procedure was applied for the long-term analysis of 1350 samples from 2014 to 2018. Mean residual sodium nitrite concentration was 76.5 mg kg^-1, ranging from < 11 to 278.0 mg kg^-1. Significant differences among product and meat types were found, but no temporal differences were observed. Nitrite daily intake was estimated in 0.0122 ± 0.0039 mg kg^-1 bw^-1 d^-1, which accounts for 17.4% of the acceptable daily intake (ADI). This information underlies the importance of studying residual nitrite kinetics in processed meat products as well as establishing long-term programs for the accurate estimation of nitrite daily intake rates.