Nitrites

The salts of nitrous acid. Nitrites impair the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood and are capable, especially in the case of infants, of causing the brain to be under-supplied with oxygen (a condition known as Cyanosis). They are also capable of reacting with amines in the digestive tract to form carciogenic Nitosamines. Another importance still attaching to nitrites is a nitrite pickling salt, in conjunction with which a legally permissible quantity of nitrites present in meat products is considered to be non- toxic.