Use of Antioxidant-Coated Salts as N-Nitrosamine Inhibitors in Dry- and Brine-Cured Bacon1

Abstract

Several experiments were completed to further evaluate use of α-tocopherol-coated salts as inhibitors of N-nitrosamine formation in fried bacon. Studies with dry-cured bacon prepared with various levels of α-tocopherol indicated that the chemical did not contribute to formation of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). N-Nitrosopyrrolidine levels for the α-tocopherol-treated bacon samples were generally below 5 μg/kg, which represents an average reduction of approximately 70%. Experiments were also done to evaluate the role of lecithin as a possible precursor of NDMA in brine-cured bacon. At concentrations used to disperse α-tocopherol in the curing brine, lecithin did not contribute to NDMA formation in bacon prepared with α-tocopherol-coated salts.