Table 3.

Nitrite 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 country of sampling d
Processed meat	FPM (except fresh sausage)	37.73 ± 38.97	21.65 [7.06–58.77]	0.50–169.80	505	12	9
	Fresh sausages	28.53 ± 35.43	16.28 [6.29–24.55]	0.88–97.60	832	8	7
	Frankfurter	25.31 ± 24.41	13.90 [7.07–32.80]	0.25–83.90	110	17	9
	Bacon	19.90 ± 22.82	12.25 [6.55–23.04]	0.20–144.42	1027	31	19
	Ham	21.11 ± 45.78	11.24 [5.69–19.65]	0.35–527.36	2443	50	24
	Sausage, unspecified	25.57 ± 37.79	10.71 [6.42–28.85]	0.05–187.00	1013	34	19
	CCM (except frankfurter)	19.00 ± 32.16	9.41 [3.98–21.70]	0.00 f –332.00	20 063	69	35
	Salami	17.84 ± 24.87	8.20 [3.67–23.72]	0.50–119.00	1176	36	18
	Cured meat cuts (except bacon and ham)	12.82 ± 20.78	7.42 [3.08–13.84]	0.09–163.65	5576	39	23
	UCFM (except salami and chorizo)	21.86 ± 36.09	7.33 [3.65–19.14]	0.10–216.63	1199	16	10
	Processed MGM	6.28 ± 3.49	6.15 [3.25–8.80]	2.50–12.00	165	5	3
	Dried meat	6.78 ± 6.36	5.40 [1.88–11.11]	0.05–18.23	234	6	5
	Chorizo	15.03 ± 35.72	4.35 [2.93–5.80]	0.49–148.98	217	6	4
	Processed meat, others	5.21 ± 6.55	0.01 [0.01–11.27]	0.01–18.19	13 495	9	8
Red meat	Beef and veal	9.15 ± 7.56	7.85 [4.50–11.50]	0.10–25.80	197	12	11
	Horse	7.65 ± 6.58	4.50 [4.50–9.60]	1.47–18.20	109	4	3
	Pork	7.83 ± 10.09	4.50 [2.62–9.00]	0.10–35.00	112	8	7
	Red meat, others	8.36 ± 9.50	4.50 [2.65–11.07]	0.05–42.00	1660	16	13
	Lamb and mutton	9.17 ± 16.00	1.75 [0.15–10.77]	0.10–33.07	23	4	4
Poultry and feathered game meat products	Processed poultry	35.14 ± 42.58	18.60 [6.74–39.08]	0.20–162.40	364	15	11
	Poultry and feathered game products, others	7.34 ± 4.86	6.25 [4.00–12.25]	1.71–12.49	55	3	3
	Chicken meat	30.18 ± 62.44	3.54 [1.20–17.79]	0.10–215.90	224	9	8
Milk products	Cheese and cheese products	2.28 ± 3.13	1.00 [0.58–1.80]	0.00 f –18.40	2193	29	19
	Milk products, others	1.21 ± 0.93	0.90 [0.50–1.50]	0.01–5.90	213	6	6
	Milk, cow, powder, skim	0.81 ± 0.90	0.50 [0.50–0.60]	0.50–8.10	178	3	3
	Milk, cow, fluid, skim	0.32 ± 0.49	0.14 [0.07–0.25]	0.04–1.40	26	4	3
	Milk, cow, fluid, whole	0.75 ± 1.23	0.12 [0.08–1.05]	0.00 f –5.30	453	16	11
	Milk, other, fluid	0.23 ± 0.38	0.08 [0.04–0.12]	0.04–1.00	8	3	3
	Milk, cow, powder, whole	1.69 ± 2.73	0.07 [0.06–2.27]	0.02–6.48	44	3	3
Infant formulae and foods	Infant meals	1.60 ± 3.43	0.49 [0.49–0.49]	0.04–14.00	225	5	5
	Infant formula, prepared	3.10 ± 13.72	0.07 [0.01–0.20]	0.00 f –64.54	187	7	6
	Human breast milk	0.07 ± 0.17	0.01 [0.00–0.01]	0.00 f –0.53	101	3	3
Fish and seafood products	Canned fish	17.58 ± 13.08	20.32 [6.16–30.16]	0.27–31.04	52	4	4
	Molluscs	4.00 ± 1.32	4.50 [4.50–4.50] d	1.00–4.50	271	3	2
	Finfish, fresh, frozen	5.60 ± 6.42	4.00 [1.07–7.25]	0.20–22.60	119	7	6
	Roe	2.32 ± 1.19	2.00 [2.00–2.20]	1.20–5.30	1929	4	2
	Processed fish (except canned fish)	3.44 ± 6.38	1.00 [1.00–2.12]	0.14–35.00	508	9	7
Eggs	Eggs, chicken	0.68 ± 0.55	1.00 [0.52–1.00]	0.04–1.00	52	3	3
Offal	Offal	4.64 ± 6.45	2.31 [1.02–6.53]	0.12–38.54	228	12	11

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 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 S2.

^e Five entries from two of the three references had the same value (4.5 mg kg^‐1).

^f <0.01 mg kg^‐1.