Daily consumption of sodium and nitrite from Serbian meat products: insights from principal component analysis

Abstract

Sodium chloride and nitrite play important roles in the meat processing industry, significant ly influencing the safety, technological, and sensory properties of meat products, with nitrite classified as a food additive and sodium chloride as a food ingredient. Besides this important technological role, excessive intake can lead to human health disorders. Thus, the content of sodium chloride and nitrite in meat products on the Serbian market were analyzed using principal component analysis. A total of 64 meat products produced by the 18 most notable meat processors were collected from the Serbian retail market. The meat products collected belonged to four different groups: dry fermented sausages, finely comminuted cooked sau sages, canned meat in pieces, and liver sausages and pates. Mean sodium chloride and nitrite contents for all analyzed meat products were 1.91 g/100g (the highest was for dry fermented sausages 3.67 g/100g; the lowest was for liver sausages and pates 1.19 g/100g) and 7.66 mg/ kg (the highest was for chicken hot dogs 13.79 mg/kg; the lowest was for dry fermented sausages 2.17 mg/kg), respectively. The nitrite content in all analyzed meat products was in accordance with the European and Serbian legislation. Considering daily consumption of meat products and dried meat products in Serbia, and based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that consumers in Serbia exceed the recommended average daily consumption for sodium chloride. In conclusion, all possibilities for further reduction of sodium chloride consumption should be considered, especially because Serbia is a high risk country for car diovascular diseases.