Determination of nitrate and nitrite levels in infant foods marketed in Southern Italy

Abstract

Nitrate and nitrite concentrations in foods have aroused considerable interest because of their possible toxicity to humans, especially younger children. Since dietary exposure to these compounds includes sources other than vegetables, 104 infant foods consisting of animal, plant and mixed origin and available on sale to the public were examined using the spectrophotometric AOAC method to assess whether during the weaning period the use of commercial follow-on formulas could be a cause of concern for exceeding the ADIs set at international level. Nitrate values (mg kg−1) ranged between 0.35 and 131.68, nitrite between 1.12 and 80.22. The highest mean values were found in foods of plant origin (45.5) for nitrate and in foods of mixed origin (12.48) for nitrite. Nitrate contents never exceeded the level of 200 mg kg−1 set by EC Regulation 1881/2006 whereas the ingestion of most of the samples would have been the reason for exceeding the ADI set for nitrites.