Talk:Sodium nitrite

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Food and drink, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of food and drink related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Food and drinkWikipedia:WikiProject Food and drinkTemplate:WikiProject Food and drinkFood and drink articles

Start

This article has been rated as Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.

???

This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.

Food and Drink task list:

To edit this page, select here

Here are some tasks you can do for WikiProject Food and drink:

Help bring these Top Importance articles currently B Status or below up to GA status: Agaricus bisporus (i.e. mushroom), Beef, Bread, Curry, Drink, Food, Ham and eggs, Soy sauce, Sushi, Yogurt
Bring these Top Importance articles currently at GA status up to FA status: Beer, French cuisine, Sugar
Bring these High Importance articles currently at GA status up to FA status: Apple, Burger King, Fish
Participate in project-related deletion discussions.
Delete unrelated trivia sections found in articles. Please review WP:Trivia and WP:Handling trivia to learn how to do this.
Add the {{WikiProject Food and drink}} project banner to food and drink related articles and content to help bring them to the attention of members. For a complete list of banners for WikiProject Food and drink and its child projects, select here.
Provide photographs and images for Category:Wikipedia requested images of food
Consider joining this project's Assessment task force. List any project ideas in this section

Note: These lists are transcluded from the project's tasks pages.

Chemicals: Core Start‑class Mid‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Chemicals, a daughter project of WikiProject Chemistry, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of chemicals. To participate, help improve this article or visit the project page for details on the project.ChemicalsWikipedia:WikiProject ChemicalsTemplate:WikiProject Chemicalschemicals articles
Start	This article has been rated as Start-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This is a core article in the WikiProject Chemicals worklist.

Weird Typo

I read "Boiling vegetables lowers nitrate but not nitrite" and had to reread it twice before I realized it made no sense. What? 75.72.165.51 (talk) 06:13, 29 December 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nitrite/Nitrate

What is the reference to Sodium Nitrate(III)in the "other names" box? I've never heard of Sodium Nitrite being referred to as Sodium Nitrate in any way. I've seen Nitrous Acid, Sodium Salt used as an alternate name.--Geoshir 14:24, 17 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

While this chemical may prevent the growth of bacteria, it is dangerously similar in formula to sodium nitrate, a prime ingredient in explosives.

I don't think THAT is a good justification for its toxicity! Besides, as far as I know, nitrite is even more toxic than nitrate.--Malbi 17:43, 31 July 2005 (UTC)[reply]

Carcinogenicity

AS I understand it, isn't Sodium Nitrite also the most reactive carcinogin? Should that be mentioned in this article somewhere? Homestarmy 21:29, 8 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The carcinogenicity of nitrites is a controversial issue. At present, there is no direct IARC guidance, and they are not included in the NTP Report on Carcinogens. The IARC has given a high priority (in 2003) to establishing a monograph on the possible carcinogenicity of nitrites and nitrates. The European Union does not currently classify sodium nitrite as a carcinogen. The most generally proposed mechanism for a possible carcinogenicity of nitrites is the formation of nitrosamines. Physchim62 (talk) 09:25, 9 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I expect carcinogenity of sodium nitrite to take a back-burner compared to its effects on the immune system. In the case of sodium nitrite, you may have a mix of direct-effect and side-effect cancers. -broodlinger 24.184.67.122 23:28, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds a bit like FUD. What sort of cancer? --Kjoonlee 03:41, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Here is a question I had for millenia...

In my personal knowledge, all (at least, many) smoked foods (ham, bacon, etc.) have sodium nitrite added to them. Why do they add sodium nitrite especially to smoked foods? --Frosty ^(sup?) 17:57, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I think it serves as some sort of preservative, used heavily in processed meats. I think it's one of the reasons people have started looking into carcinogicity stuff, because you know, eating alot of it probably isn't a good idea....Homestarmy 18:29, 23 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It is used primarily for the purpose of giving the meat that reddish color. You'll find it in hot dogs, bologna, bacon and many other pork and beef products that would otherwise be gray. Apparently, grey is not as appealing as red. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by V1 Rotate (talk • contribs) .

That doesn't make sense. Sodium nitrite is white. I think it's a preservative to keep the meat from spoiling. —Keenan Pepper 04:12, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

It stops the meat from turning brown, IIRC. It also prevents bacterial growth. --Kjoonlee 05:30, 8 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the primary purpose of sodium nitrite is to maintain a fresh *appearance*, especially for opened meats (deli meats). The value of sodium nitrite to the ham, bacon, and hot dogs industry is less clear. However, if there is an explanation for putting nitrites in hot dogs, it is probably color as well. After all, if sodium nitrite was a deterrent for bacteria, they would put it in chicken. And they don't. So whatever this article says about botulism, take it out, because it's misleading. -broodlinger 24.184.67.122 23:55, 15 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Red meat will turn pink when cooked, if sodium nitrite had been added, IIRC. That explains why it would be used in pork sausages but not in chicken. --Kjoonlee 03:38, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know enough about fish, though. --Kjoonlee 03:40, 16 January 2007 (UTC)[reply]

can anyone please tell me the hazards od cosuming sodium nitrite and their remedial measures .

The guy had cosumed sodium nitirte of about 5 gms. what are the chances of getting recovered. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 125.18.12.13 (talk • contribs) .

How much does he weigh? --Kjoonlee 10:38, 16 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Wikipedia is not a place for medical advice. However, I can tell you that sodium nitrite has has an LDLO value of 71 mg kg^-1 if swallowed, which means that if you weigh 60 kilograms or 133 pounds, you can die by eating 4.26 grams of sodium nitrite if you're unlucky. I wish him a swift recovery. --Kjoonlee 11:38, 16 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I came across an aerosol spray of 'odour neutraliser' that actually listed its ingredients. It said it contained sodium nitrite as its main ingredient. As this use was not listed on the article page I'd be interested in knowing what it does. Anyone got an idea how it works? The carrier spray is butane.

--Quatermass 16:20, 26 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please, I'd like to know the laboratory method to make Natrium Nitritt in equation and procedure of preparation. I think that it will be by adding Common Salt to Nitrous Acid, isn't it? ≤M.Qader mqa≥ KLTTMPP

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging

This article talk page was automatically added with {{WikiProject Food and drink}} banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here . Maximum and carefull attention was done to avoid any wrongly tagging any categories , but mistakes may happen... If you have concerns , please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 17:50, 3 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sodium Nitrate as a mutagen

I have eliminated the whole section regarding Sodium Nitrate as a mutagen because it is completely scientifically incorrect. I have rewritten the section in plain language:

Sodium nitrite produced by bacteria in the intestine can become hydrolysed if they are mysteriously transferred against the stream of food being digested and moved upstream into the stomach. The results is nitrous acid somewhere in the digestive system.

Nitrous acid can react with primary amines, which occur in DNA produces a chemical that contains nitrogen. This chemical will engage in the natural process of tautomerization, which means that the chemical will interconvert between two forms based on temperature and acidity. It's a property that a lot of organic chemicals have. At some point, this mysterious chemical will condense into a diazonium cation, which will be converted into alcohol with the elimination of Nitrogen. The resulting alcohol will also engage in the natural process of tautomerization.

The concern is that some chemicals that are known to be mutagenic engage in tautomerization. However, many non-mutagenic chemicals also engage in tautomerization, such as uracil or hypoxanthine. Tautomerization is just a property of many chemicals. Saying that tautomerizaiton causes mutation is like saying since guns are made of metal then anything made of metal can shoot and kill people.

This would not be a ridiculous thing to post. DivaNtrainin (talk) 17:50, 19 May 2009 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.79.89.73 (talk) [reply]

Towards resolving the food safety issues section

The food safety section was added at this edit: W:index.php?title=Sodium_nitrite&diff=prev&oldid=307266806 by a reg user still occasionally contributing Special:Contributions/Upstandingj, who I'm leaving a message for, and the great chunk of copy-suspect text pasted on it soon after, from the same source, by an IP editor, who's not around on that IP since Nov 09: Special:Contributions/98.234.194.92 The source of the suspect content is now behind a toll barrier, so cant be checked at source for free unless you are a subscriber. So maybe I start again, from the public refs I used at sodium nitrate, or maybe someone passing here can help with access to the unavailable refs: http://www.medem.com/?q=medlib/article/ZZZ80XEN0IC et seq. Trev M ~ 22:50, 27 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]