RESULTS ON QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF NITRATES AND NITRITES IN SOME FOOD PRODUCTS OF ANIMAL ORIGIN

The toxicity of nitrates is also manifested by its ability to convert to nitrosamines; nitrosamines can form in both food products (exogenous origin) during storage and in the digestive system (endogenous origin), especially in the stomach. The nitrites diasotize the sulphanilic acid in an acidic medium and the formed diazonium salt is coupled with alpha-naphthylamine to give a pink-colored azoic compound with a maximum absorption at λ = 520nm. In the meat products analyzed the nitrate content recorded large variations, ranging from 27.54 mg/kg to the Polish sausage sample and 79.31 mg/kg in the pork pastrami sample.Nitrate concentrations were within a broad range without exceeding the maximum permissible concentration (0.74 mg/kg in the half-smoked sausage sample, respectively 32,24 mg/kg in the chicken sausage