Table 2.

Nitrate content [mg kg^‐1] of selected animal‐based foods products

Main food category	Sub‐category a	Mean ± SD b	Median [IQR] b	Range b	No. of samples c	No. of references d	No. of countries d
Processed meat	Chorizo	88.99 ± 45.56	101.61 [60.05–105.93]	8.24–164.10	137	4	4
	Fresh sausages	98.68 ± 80.67	77.43 [40.40–160.20]	7.29–248.00	1065	7	6
	Dried meat	45.09 ± 21.99	49.00 [43.91–59.02]	8.61–64.90	213	4	4
	Sausage, unspecified	77.06 ± 100.60	43.83 [14.44–86.42]	1.31–502.23	775	22	17
	FPM (except fresh sausage)	44.35 ± 24.99	43.50 [22.60–59.41]	13.21–92.78	280	8	7
	Frankfurter	51.00 ± 47.78	41.50 [28.42–55.62]	4.60–257.00	316	15	10
	UCFM (except salami and chorizo)	58.87 ± 75.11	39.72 [18.61–68.10]	1.00–368.00	2238	12	9
	Bacon	64.47 ± 65.47	38.69 [15.00–88.86]	1.02–324.36	1480	23	16
	Processed meat, others	48.50 ± 43.24	34.00 [22.72–41.80]	14.50–168.30	5006	7	5
	CCM (except frankfurter)	53.53 ± 104.12	32.56 [15.24–57.80]	0.10–1380.00	6285	47	27
	Processed MGM	74.44 ± 77.16	32.40 [28.60–94.55]	18.40–224.00	107	4	3
	Salami	43.09 ± 50.13	29.10 [12.40–51.15]	1.00–299.00	1168	26	16
	Cured meat cuts (except bacon and ham)	37.88 ± 53.56	20.00 [10.71–38.58]	0.73–368.09	1563	27	18
	Ham	46.32 ± 61.88	19.31 [10.07–48.10]	0.08–325.24	2072	37	21
Red meat	Lamb and mutton	54.97 ± 56.93	45.56 [12.00–61.34]	7.51–148.43	25	5	5
	Red meat, others	34.03 ± 24.46	30.00 [14.01–47.80]	2.70–93.70	1144	14	12
	Beef and veal	29.47 ± 39.90	13.10 [4.92–39.25]	0.92–150.89	182	13	11
	Pork	16.09 ± 16.27	10.60 [4.27–22.76]	1.07–49.50	279	11	8
	Horse	45.78 ± 79.17	9.60 [6.11–20.60]	5.60–187.00	118	4	2
Poultry and feathered game meat products	Poultry and feathered game products, others	30.63 ± 13.68	26.24 [21.70–38.91]	16.30–50.00	66	3	3
	Processed poultry	25.25 ± 20.86	20.60 [8.96–28.58]	0.36–75.78	265	10	8
	Chicken meat	16.68 ± 22.63	7.66 [4.52–15.59]	0.15–81.56	235	12	9
	Other poultry meat	9.06 ± 10.66	5.91 [5.15–5.95]	0.58–27.70	37	4	3
Milk products	Milk, cow, powder, whole	129.89 ± 193.41	51.51 [9.18–152.20]	1.54–630.00	56	5	5
	Milk products, others	25.32 ± 21.56	17.50 [9.00–33.75]	1.00–96.00	211	8	7
	Milk, cow, powder, skim	20.61 ± 31.75	13.00 [8.23–23.00]	1.70–395.00	268	3	3
	Cheese and cheese products	21.46 ± 34.98	10.86 [3.17–24.95]	0.00 e –323.90	1908	27	18
	Milk, other, fluid	11.17 ± 11.90	5.90 [0.47–23.04]	0.25–25.00	9	3	3
	Milk, cow, fluid, whole	26.05 ± 65.57	1.57 [0.73–16.23]	0.05–326.22	848	21	15
	Milk, cow, fluid, skim	3.20 ± 4.98	0.40 [0.36–4.19]	0.29–12.60	26	4	3
Infant formulae and foods	Infant meals	62.42 ± 39.65	45.92 [41.40–72.20]	11.20–157.58	842	5	5
	Infant formula, prepared	24.47 ± 34.71	8.80 [1.28–38.99]	0.15–122.20	205	7	5
	Human breast milk	3.98 ± 6.32	1.39 [0.82–3.03]	0.70–18.10	80	4	4
Fish and seafood products	Canned fish	47.03 ± 27.98	54.22 [17.79–77.20]	11.88–79.04	52	3	3
	Processed fish (except canned fish)	69.15 ± 123.59	19.30 [9.00–72.00]	1.90–565.00	251	7	7
	Finfish, fresh, frozen	18.47 ± 14.38	13.91 [8.73–31.50]	0.70–48.00	145	8	7
Eggs	Eggs, chicken	3.96 ± 3.07	2.86 [1.71–5.01]	0.55–10.00	184	5	5
Offal	Offal	57.27 ± 60.68	16.75 [9.83–105.36]	1.20–196.60	256	10	9

FPM, Fresh industrial processed meat products; CCM, Cured and cooked comminuted products; UCFM, Uncooked comminuted fermented meat products; MGM, Mammalian game meats.

^a Only subgroups with data derived from ≥ 3 references were included. The full subgroup list is available in Table 1.

^b Upper bound mean, samples < LOD, or “ND” were imputed as the actual LOD in the calculations.

^c Sample size was assigned as 1 where publications did not clearly present.

^d Full list of references and sampling countries see Supporting Information Table S1.

^e <0.01 mg kg^‐1.