Curing salts are used in food preservation to prevent or slow spoilage by bacteria or fungus. Generally they are used for pickling meats as part of the process to make sausage or cured meat. Curing salts are generally a mixture of table salt, sodium nitrite and sometimes sodium nitrate. Common types of curing salts are Prague powder #1, which is 6% sodium nitrite and 94% table salt, and Prague powder #2 which also includes sodium nitrate