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Nitrites and nitrates, what they are and why they are so dangerous for health

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Nitrites and nitrates, what they are and why they are so dangerous for health

Nitrites (NO2) and nitrates (NO3) are substances composed of nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) normally present in nature. What foods contain them? Let’s see them right away.

Nitrites nitrates (Photo by sulit.photos AdobeStock)

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We always hear about many of these two substances, but perhaps many still do not know what they really are. France in these hoursFrench National Agency for the Health Safety of Foodof the environment and work, has consulted the Government to try to find a reasonable solution to reduce the presence of these two substances in food on the market.

It has in fact also published a new one risk assessment linked to the consumption of these substances such that human health is dangerously at risk.

For this reason, Anses believes that the intentional addition of nitrites and nitrates in the diet must be “as low as reasonably possible”.

The original bill provided for a total ban on the use of these additives in processed, raw and cured meats (from 1 January 2023) or cooked (from 2025).

The text, however, after the recent opinion of Anses just outlined, has been heavily modified, replacing the prohibition with a “lowering trajectory“, to be defined.

But why are these two additives so dangerous for humans? Let’s see it now and clarify the topic.

Nitrites and nitrates, health at risk. Here’s where they are

Our diet exposes people every day to consume involuntarily always without wanting to, we know about sugar and sale for example. But what about the nitrites and nitrates instead?

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Salami (Photo by ChiccoDodiFC AdobeStock)

The latter are naturally present in some foods of plant origin (green leafy vegetables such as spinach) but also used as preservative additives in cured meats. The problem lies in the fact that their excessive consumption leads in the short and long term to meet some types of cancer such as colorectal cancer.

In fact, as we read on Il Fatto Alimentare, it seems that once “ingested nitrites and nitrates they can form nitrosamines, carcinogenic and genotoxic compounds for human beings and this also happens at the levels of recruitment considered admissible by EFSA“.

I nitriti (NO2) eh nitrate (NO3) they are substances composed of nitrogen (N) and oxygen (O) normally present in nature, but the former derive from nitrous acid, while the latter from nitric acid.

Remember that nitrites have the ability to bind to hemoglobin which carries oxygen in the blood, transforming it into metaemoglobina e reducing consequently the transport of oxygen to the tissues.

Furthermore, the question of the ability of nitrites to combine with the amines (organic compounds found in meat, cured meats and cheeses) which generates called carcinogenic substances nitrosamines.

These are responsible for the possible appearance of tumors in the colorectal, intestine, lungs, pancreas and brain.

Where are the most nourished and nitrates found?

They are used as additives in canned meats, cured meats and sausages, marinated fish and dairy products. Although the concentration of nitrates in some foods of plant origin it is particularly high.

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These include lettuce, spinach, beetroot, kohlrabi, capuchin lettuce, cress, chard, radish, horseradish, rhubarb.

Me too’water it can become enriched with nitrites following their absorption from the soil, but it is known that even the presence of large families of bacteria in the soil can lead to their formation.

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