Nitrites have been used as curing agents in meat and cheese products for many years. Their preservative function is known to deal with such nasties as Clostridium botulinum and Listeria monocytogenes.
Before the 1940’s it was thought that nitrates (as opposed to nitrites) were the active antimicrobial ingredient. But nitrates have very little antibacterial activity, and virtually no effect against yeast and molds. What actually happens is that the nitrates are reduced to nitrites by the microflora present in the food.
Having said this, nitrites themselves are not the silver bullet that everyone thinks they are. There are definitely some fungi and bacteria that are susceptible to nitrites, but there are those that are more resistant. They have little or no activity against gram negative bacteria, only a limited list of gram positive bacteria. In addition, the effectiveness is closely linked to the concentration used and other aspects such as pH and temperature.
With this in mind, simply increasing the concentration of nitrites (or nitrates if they are used as a precursor to the nitrite) is a risky business. Sodium nitrate (the most widely used form of nitrate) is only allowed to be used in limited quantities because of associated health risks. Nitrites are also a risk – with them being linked to cancer, Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, mental impairment, abdominal pain, gastroenteritis and kidney abnormalities.
This does not paint a very confident picture of what has become an industry standard in preservation.
The good news is that there is now an alternative. Backed up with scientific trials, Savour Solutions product Savacin out-performs nitrites in terms of number of bacteria that it deals with – controlling not only gram positive, but also gram negative bacteria. In addition, the list of yeasts and molds that Savacin controls is far longer than those in the nitrite list.
Composed of completely natural, bio-disruptive ingredients this broad spectrum antifungal and antibacterial additive can be used in, as well as on products. This means it can be included in the production process as an additive, but can also be used as a spray or dip to keep product fungi free from the outside.
So not only will Savacin protect your product against contamination, but from a health point of view, it is totally safe. In addition, adding Savacin to your production process does not change the flavor or texture of your product – making sure your products will keep their awesome taste that your customers keep coming back for!
For more details on the comparison between nitrites and Savacin – download our technical report.