E250 - Sodium nitrite

At a glance

Sodium nitrite has a few jobs in food, and most of them apply to cured meats.

• What it is: An inorganic salt (NaNO2) used as a preservative and color fixative.
• What it does: Helps prevent the growth of Clostridium botulinum, keeps cured meat pink, and supports cured flavor.
• Where you find it: Bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages, corned beef, deli meats, and some cured or smoked fish.
• How it appears on labels: “Sodium nitrite” or “E250” (in the EU).
• Related ingredients often used with it: Antioxidants such as sodium ascorbate, ascorbic acid, or sodium erythorbate to limit nitrosamine formation.
• Safety snapshot: Allowed levels are low and closely controlled. Acute overexposure can cause methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder, but this is rare in normal food use.

Why is Sodium nitrite added to food?

Food makers add sodium nitrite to cured meats because it helps stop the growth of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that produces botulinum toxin. It also gives cured meats their pink color and distinct flavor, and it can slow fat oxidation that causes rancidity.¹ In the United States, bacon and some other cured products must also include certain antioxidants (such as sodium ascorbate or sodium erythorbate) to help prevent the formation of nitrosamines during processing and cooking.²

What foods contain Sodium nitrite?

You will most often see sodium nitrite in:

• Cured pork (bacon, ham), corned beef, pastrami
• Hot dogs and many cooked or smoked sausages
• Deli meats and some canned or shelf-stable meat products
• Certain cured or smoked fish

In the U.S., sodium nitrite is listed as a safe and suitable ingredient for specific meat, poultry, and some fish products, with strict maximum amounts and processing conditions.³

What can replace Sodium nitrite?

There is no single drop-in replacement that matches all of sodium nitrite’s roles—safety, color, and flavor—at once. Options include:

• Using nitrate sources such as potassium nitrate in slow-curing styles, where bacteria convert nitrate to nitrite over time.
• Combining hurdles like salt, low temperature, vacuum or modified-atmosphere packaging, and newer methods (for example, high-pressure processing) to control pathogens.
• Using flavor and color aids to mimic parts of the cured profile, though these do not fully replace nitrite’s safety function.

Many producers still rely on small, regulated amounts of nitrite together with antioxidants like ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate to manage safety and quality.

How is Sodium nitrite made?

Commercial sodium nitrite is typically made by absorbing nitrogen oxides into alkaline solutions (such as sodium hydroxide or sodium carbonate), or by partially reducing sodium nitrate, then purifying and crystallizing the product.⁴ Food-grade material must meet purity specifications, including identity tests and limits for impurities, as laid down in EU additive specifications.⁵

Is Sodium nitrite safe to eat?

Regulators set very low maximum use levels in specific foods, and they also set an acceptable daily intake (ADI). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) established an ADI for nitrite of 0.07 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, expressed as nitrite ion.¹ Nitrosamines can form when nitrite reacts with amines, especially at high cooking temperatures; to reduce this risk, U.S. rules for bacon require adding ascorbate or erythorbate and following strict limits on ingoing nitrite.² Within these controls, nitrite is considered technologically important and safe at permitted levels.¹

Does Sodium nitrite have any benefits?

Yes. Its main benefit is food safety: it helps prevent botulism in cured meats. It also creates the pink color and cured flavor that many consumers expect, and it can slow oxidation in fats, which helps keep flavor stable during storage.¹

Who should avoid Sodium nitrite?

• Infants and people with conditions that increase the risk of methemoglobinemia (a disorder where hemoglobin carries less oxygen) should avoid high exposures to nitrite. Most cases come from accidental or non-food exposures; typical amounts in properly cured foods are low.⁶
• Anyone advised by a healthcare provider to limit cured meats—for sodium, fat, or other dietary reasons—should follow that advice.
• People who char or over-fry cured meats frequently may wish to moderate such practices, since very high heat can favor nitrosamine formation; using lower temperatures and following cooking guidance helps manage this, alongside the required use of antioxidants in products like bacon.²

Myths & facts

• Myth: “Uncured” or “natural” cured meats never contain nitrite. Fact: Some products use nitrate sources (for example, certain vegetable ingredients) and starter cultures that generate nitrite during processing; the chemistry in the food is similar.
• Myth: Nitrite and nitrate are the same. Fact: They are different ions. Nitrate can convert to nitrite under certain conditions in curing, especially in traditional, slow processes.
• Myth: Nitrite always makes dangerous nitrosamines. Fact: Formation depends on conditions such as high heat and formulation; rules limit nitrite and require antioxidants to keep nitrosamines low.²
• Myth: Nitrite is only for color. Fact: Its primary role in cured meats is safety—controlling C. botulinum—along with color and flavor.¹

Sodium nitrite in branded foods

You can find sodium nitrite on ingredient lists for many national and store-brand cured meats. In the EU it may appear as “E250”; in the U.S. it is written as “sodium nitrite.” Typical places to check are packages of bacon, ham, hot dogs, sausages, corned beef, deli meats, and some smoked or cured fish.

References

Footnotes

1. Re-evaluation of nitrites (E 249-250) as food additives — European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4786 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. ECFR 9 CFR 424.21(c) — Use of food ingredients and sources of radiation (nitrite limits; required use of ascorbate/erythorbate in bacon). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-9/part-424/section-424.21 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. FSIS Directive 7120.1 — Safe and Suitable Ingredients Used in the Production of Meat, Poultry, and Egg Products. https://www.fsis.usda.gov/policy/fsis-directives/7120.1 ↩

4. Sodium nitrite — PubChem Compound Summary (identity and manufacturing overview). https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Sodium-nitrite ↩

5. Commission Regulation (EU) No 231/2012 — Specifications for food additives (includes E250 sodium nitrite). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/231/oj ↩

6. Nitrate and Nitrite ToxFAQs — Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR/CDC). https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tfacts204.pdf ↩