Philander A. Baddoo

Nitrosamines in cured pork products packaged in elastic rubber nettings: An update

Previous research has shown that traces to fairly high levels of certain N-nitrosamines can form in cured pork products packaged in elastic rubber nettings. The N-nitrosamines are formed due to the interaction of nitrite additive in the meat and amine additives in the rubber that are used as accelerators in the curing of rubber. This paper briefly reviews earlier findings and presents some recent results. Of twenty samples of such pork products analyzed, one was negative, six contained 12–32 μg/kg levels of N-nitrosodibenzylamine (NDBZA) but no N-nitrosodi-n-butylamine (NDBA), and the remaining samples contained appreciable levels of both the compounds (NDBA up to 48 μg/kg and NDBZA up to 520 μg/kg). These results suggest that the problem of N-nitrosamine formation in these products is yet to be resolved.