Human safety controversies surrounding nitrate and nitrite in the diet

Nitrate and nitrite are part of the human diet as nutrients in many vegetables and part of food preservation systems. In the 1950s and 1960s the potential for formation of nitrosamines in food was discovered and it ignited a debate about the safety of ingested nitrite which ultimately focused on cured meats. Nitrate impurities in salt used in the drying of meat in ancient times resulted in improved protection from spoilage during storage. This...