Conformidade do teor de nitrito em produtos cárneos no Brasil: uma meta-análise comparativa com os limites legais vigentes

Abstract

Concerns regarding food preservation emerged alongside the development of agriculture, leading to the creation of knowledge and practices aimed at extending the durability and shelf life of products. Currently, due to the substantial increase in the consumption of preserved foods, conservation methods include drying and salting, as well as the addition of spices to prevent spoilage caused by microorganisms. In the case of meat products, chemical preservatives are employed, with sodium nitrite being one of the most widely used. This preservative contributes to product stability by inhibiting microbial growth, extending shelf life, and providing the characteristic pink-red coloration of cured meats. The aim of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis of scientific articles reporting the determination of nitrite in samples of meat products commercialized in Brazilian cities. The meta-analysis estimated that, on average, 20% of meat products exhibit non-compliance with legal limits for nitrite. However, this result should be interpreted with caution due to the high heterogeneity observed (I² = 98,13%), which indicates substantial variability among the included studies. This dispersion likely reflects methodological differences, types of products analyzed, and regional conditions. Nevertheless, even considering this variability, the findings suggest that non-compliance is a real and relevant issue within the available dataset.