Editing Nitrite (section)

====Curing of meat====
Nitrite reacts with the meat's [[myoglobin]] by attaching to the heme iron atom, forming reddish-brown nitrosomyoglobin and the characteristic pink "fresh" color of nitrosohemochrome or nitrosyl-heme upon cooking.<ref name=ind>{{cite journal |last1=Pappenberger |first1=Günter |last2=Hohmann |first2=Hans-Peter |title=Industrial Production of l-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and d-Isoascorbic Acid |journal=Biotechnology of Food and Feed Additives |series=Advances in Biochemical Engineering/Biotechnology |date=2013 |volume=143 |pages=143–188 |doi=10.1007/10_2013_243|pmid=24258144 |isbn=978-3-662-43760-5 }}</ref> In the US, nitrite has been formally used since 1925. According to scientists working for the industry group [[American Meat Institute]], this use of nitrite started in the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Binkerd|first1=E. F.|last2=Kolari|first2=O. E.|date=1975-01-01|title=The history and use of nitrate and nitrite in the curing of meat|journal=Food and Cosmetics Toxicology|volume=13|issue=6|pages=655–661|doi=10.1016/0015-6264(75)90157-1|issn=0015-6264|pmid=1107192}}</ref> Historians and [[epidemiology|epidemiologist]]s argue that the widespread use of nitrite in meat-curing is closely linked to the development of industrial meat-processing.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coudray |first=Guillaume |year=2017 |title=Cochonneries: Comment la charcuterie est devenue un poison |language=fr |location=Paris |publisher=La Découverte |pages=40–70 |isbn=978-2-7071-9358-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lauer|first=Klaus|date=1991-01-01|title=The history of nitrite in human nutrition: A contribution from German cookery books|url=https://www.jclinepi.com/article/0895-4356(91)90037-A/abstract|journal=Journal of Clinical Epidemiology|language=en|volume=44|issue=3|pages=261–264|doi=10.1016/0895-4356(91)90037-A|issn=0895-4356|pmid=1999685|url-access=subscription}}</ref> French investigative journalist {{interlanguage link|Guillaume Coudray|fr}} asserts that the meat industry chooses to cure its meats with nitrite even though it is established that this chemical gives rise to cancer-causing [[nitroso]]-compounds.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/guillaume-coudray-on-the-nitro-meat-cancer-connection/ |title=Guillaume Coudray on the Nitro Meat Cancer Connection |author=<!--Editor byline, no author name given.--> |date=14 April 2021 |website=Corporate Crime Reporter |access-date=2024-10-13}}</ref> Some traditional and artisanal producers avoid nitrites.

{{see also|Nitrosamine formation during digestion}}
Addition of [[ascorbic acid]], [[erythorbic acid]], or one of their salts enhance the binding of nitrite to the iron atom in myoglobin.<ref name=ind/> These chemicals also reduce the formation of nitrosamine in the stomach, but only when the fat content of a meal is less than 10%, beyond which they instead increase the formation of nitrosamine.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=17785370 |pmc=2095705 |year=2007 |last1=Combet |first1=E. |title=Fat transforms ascorbic acid from inhibiting to promoting acid-catalysed ''N''-nitrosation |journal=Gut |volume=56 |issue=12 |pages=1678–1684 |last2=Paterson |first2=S |last3=Iijima |first3=K |last4=Winter |first4=J |last5=Mullen |first5=W |last6=Crozier |first6=A |last7=Preston |first7=T |last8=McColl |first8=K. E. |doi=10.1136/gut.2007.128587}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |pmid=20026204 |year=2010 |last1=Combet |first1=E |title=Dietary phenolic acids and ascorbic acid: Influence on acid-catalyzed nitrosative chemistry in the presence and absence of lipids |journal=Free Radical Biology and Medicine |volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=763–771 |last2=El Mesmari |first2=A |last3=Preston |first3=T |last4=Crozier |first4=A |last5=McColl |first5=K. E. |doi=10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2009.12.011}}</ref>