Nitrite Residues of Bouillons Marketed in Turkey
 Pınar ERKEKOĞLU*, Hande SİPAHİ*, Terken BAYDAR*^,o
 * Hacettepe University, Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Toxicology, Ankara, TURKEY

^oCorresponding Author

Summary

Bouillons are dehydrated broths formed into a small cube or granules that can be prepared from bovines, chicken, duck or lamb. Adding nitrite to meat is a common process that helps the delaying of botulinal toxin development. It also stabilizes the red meat color and retards the development of oxidative rancidity, off-odors and off-flavors during storage. However, nitrite remaining in cured meat, known as “residual nitrite”, is suspected as also being a health risk. Given that nitrate and nitrite addition to meats is legal, there is need to detect the nitrite content of meat and meat-based products. This study was aimed to detect whether there was any total nitrite content (nitrite contamination and residual nitrite) in bouillons and to estimate possible toxicological risks. For this purpose, 20 bouillon samples (bovine- and chickenbased), in cube or granule form, were randomly collected from markets in Ankara, Turkey. For the detection of nitrite contamination of the samples, Griess method was used with slight modifications. The nitrite in bovine- and chicken-based bouillon samples was obtained as 3.288±1.145 mg/g and 2.622±0.828 mg/g, respectively. It can be concluded that bouillons and other processed meat products should be consumed attentively because of the detrimental effects of the nitrite on the general population and particularly in vulnerable groups such as young children and the elderly.

Key Words :
Bouillon, nitrite, food toxicity.