Different authors attributed different percentage of dietary nitrate
and nitrite to the major food groups, but the consensus is that
vegetables contributed to the majority of dietary nitrate and that
cured meat products contributed to the majority of dietary nitrite.
This study agreed with the literature that vegetables are the major
dietary nitrate contributor and that meat and especially cured meat
provided the majority of dietary nitrite. The extraction and detection
method used in this study was demonstrated to be simple, fast,
sensitive and applicable to both meat and vegetable samples.
Nitrate and nitrite content of foodstuff should be monitored in
the long-term to estimate the dietary intake and to provide insights
into the effects of new horticultural and manufacturing
technologies on the levels of nitrates and nitrite in foods and in
the etiology of gastro-intestinal cancers. It was demonstrated that
nitrate and nitrite content tested were below the guideline set by
FSANZ and their intake were within the range reported in the Western
countries and were below the ADI. This study will be the first
to quantify the levels of nitrate and nitrite in foods in the Sydney
supermarket and will provide useful data to industry and health
professionals.