Estimate of the volatile nitrosamine content of UK food

Abstract

MANY nitrosamines are carcinogenic¹ and can be formed by the interaction of nitrite with primary², secondary³ or tertiary amines⁴, or even quaternary ammonium salts⁵. Foods contain many amines, and in cured meats sodium nitrite provides the other precursor for the potential formation of nitrosamines. Some strains of bacteria reduce nitrate to nitrite, so that nitrate in conjunction with the appropriate amine could also lead to nitrosamine formation⁶. There have been several studies in which cured meats and a few other foods have been examined for nitrosamines, although most of these have been restricted to the detection of the volatile dialkyl and simple heterocyclic compounds⁷. Combined gas chromatography and mass spectrometry is the most reliable method, and has a typical detection limit of 1 µg per kg of food for volatile nitrosamines. More recently, the chemiluminescent detection of nitrosamines has enabled much lower concentrations to be measured⁸. We have carried out a survey of foods commonly encountered in the UK, using mass spectrometry⁹ and chemiluminescence, and we now summarise our data to assess the intake of volatile nitrosamines from these foods.