D 22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 6,1980
Meat products beat
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Hot dogs, corned beef, ham
and most other nitrite-cured
meat products do not form
nitrosamines when cooked,
according to studies
released by Assistant
Secretary of Agriculture
Carol Tucker Foreman.
Nitrosamines, which have
been shown to cause cancer
in laboratory animals, can
form when the heat of
cooking makes the nitrite m
cured products combine with
naturally occurring amines
m meat. Nitrite is used in
curing to prevent the for
mation of botulism toxin,
which causes a deadly food
poisoning.
Most cured products
tested did not contain con
firmable nitrosamines,
Foreman said, when fned,
broiled, boiled, baked or
microwaved. Nevertheless,
USDA said it will continue to
gather information on those
products, she said, and if
unexpected problems are
found, appropriate action
will be taken.
The nitrosamme studies
were done in reponse to an
October 1977 USDA request
for information on whether
nitrite cures cause
nitrosamines to form during
processing or cooking. Six
categones of cured products
were tested. Some products
were cooked before testing
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nitrosamine charges
but those usually eaten
without further preparation -
such as bologna - were not
cooked.^
However, surveys on
immersion cured bacon
indicate that a nitrosamine
problem may exist,
Foreman said. Additional
samples of this product -
made by soaking pork bellies
in cures until the solution is
absorbed - are being studied.
action will depend
on the results, she said.
In a related action,
USDA’s Food Safely and
Quality Service today issued
a proposal to extend its
nitrosamine monitoring
program to include dry
cured bacon - made by ap
plying dry salt and nitrite to
pork bellies. The program
now monitors only the most
common type of bacon -
made by injecting liquid
cures into the bellies.
“Information collected by
the agency shows a
significant proportion of
dry cured bacon appears to
be adulterated with con
firmable levels of
nitrosamines,” Foreman
said.
“The Federal Meat In
spection Act requires that
USDA prevent the
marketing of adulterated
meat. Therefore, we are
issuing this proposal even
though the product accounts
for less than one percent of
the bacon marketed.”
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“The monitoring program
for pumped bacon, un
derway since December
1978, is designed to assure
consumers that the product
does not contain confirmable
nitrosamines, Foreman
said. “Extending the
program would offer those
who eat dry cured bacon the
same assurance.”
The proposal on dry cured
bacon would also require
such bacon be sufficiently
dry and salted to prevent
growth of bacteria that
cause food poisoning,
especially botulism.
This requirement is
needed because manufac
turers may decrease the
amount of nitrite and
thereby lose anti-botplism
protection in their effort to
avoid nitrosamine for
mation, according to
Foreman.
“To help industry meet the
proposed requirements for
dry cured bacon,” said
Foreman, “USDA would
provide technical con
sultation to firms requesting
it, as was done when we
began checking pumped
bacon.
“The actions we are taking
today are related only to
nitrosammes and not to the
safety of nitrite,” Foreman
said. “That issue is being
evaluated separately.”
The proposal and the
nitrosamine findings were
both published in the June 27
Federal Register, available
at local libraries. Comments
are encouraged on the
proposal to expand the
nitrosamine monitoring
program.
Comments should be
submitted by August 26,
1980, to the Executive
Secretariat, FSQS, USDA,
room 2641-S, Washington,
D.C. 20250.
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