Sodium nitrite intake from meat products in Poland
What it found
Average sodium nitrite intake from meat was below the daily limit for most people in Poland, but some young children went over it.
The estimates came from diet surveys and lab tests on 88 meat products.
What they found
Studies in people
Average intake stayed low
Across all respondents, average daily sodium nitrite intake was 0.012 mg per kg of body weight. This equals about 12.1% of the acceptable daily limit set by European authorities.
Young children exceeded limits
Among children aged 1 to 3 who ate meat products, the highest intakes reached 174% of the limit for boys and 188% for girls. Children were the most exposed group overall.
Pork products contributed most
Pork cold cuts such as hams, sirloins and sausages provided 54% of the sodium nitrite found in the diets studied.
Other findings
Actual levels below maximums
Lab tests on 88 meat products showed that the real amount of sodium nitrite present is usually lower than the maximum level producers may add. Ten samples had none detected and 13 could not be measured, so zero was recorded for them.
What the authors conclude
- They say the average sodium nitrite intake from meat in Poland falls below the acceptable daily limit.
- They warn that young children aged 1 to 3 face a potential risk because their intake can exceed the limit when they eat a lot of processed meat relative to their body weight.
- They advise eating a varied diet and limiting processed meat to reduce the chance of taking in too much sodium nitrite.
How it was done
Nitrites are added to meat mainly to stop harmful bacteria from growing, but they are suspected of causing cancer. The authors wanted to measure how much sodium nitrite people in Poland actually take in from processed meat.
They tested 88 meat products bought in four Polish regions in 2017 and 2018 to measure actual sodium nitrite levels. They then combined those results with diet records from 4,134 people aged 1 to 96 to estimate daily intake. Intake was compared against an acceptable daily limit of 0.1 mg per kg of body weight per day.
What it can’t tell you
- This work only looked at sodium nitrite from meat products, so total intake from water and other foods could be higher.
- The diet information came from a survey asking people to recall one day of eating, which might not reflect what they eat every day.
- Because this study measured exposure rather than tracking health outcomes, it cannot show whether these intake levels cause illness.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- National Institute of Public Health NIH - National Research Institute, Poland
The paper
- Title
- Exposure of meat products to nitrites as food additives in Poland
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Stoś K, Wojda B, Ołtarzewski M, Gajda-Wyrębek J, Dmitruk M, Postupolski J (2025). Exposure of meat products to nitrites as food additives in Poland. Annals of agricultural and environmental medicine. doi:10.26444/aaem/200165Free full textPubMed 41025178DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error