Sodium and potassium nitrates and nitrites are preservatives widely used in meat products and some cheese. They are important toxicologically but there is a lack of data on the exposure of the Brazilian population to these additives. This study aimed to verify the frequency of the use of nitrates and nitrites in processed foods in Brazil and to estimate their theoretical intake by the Brazilian population. A database was built of supermarket products containing nitrates, nitrites, and antioxidants. The Theoretical Maximum Daily Intake (TMDI) and TMDI balanced by the prevalence of food consumption (TMDI BPFC) were determined using consumption data from the Household Budget Surveys (2008/2009 and 2017/2018). The TMDI for nitrates and nitrites was lower than the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for all population groups. Considering the prevalence of food consumption (consumers only), the TMDI BPFC values were lower than the ADI for nitrates (between 0.4 and 0.9 times the ADI) but very high values were obtained for nitrites (between 10 and 24 times the ADI). Our results suggest that the Brazilian population, especially some population groups, may be consuming unsafe amounts of nitrite. As a consequence, their health may be at risk.
Keywords: Preservatives; exposure assessment; meat products; nitrate; nitrite.