An Evaluation of Alternatives to Nitrites and Sulfites to Inhibit the Growth of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes in Meat Products

Abstract

In recent years, the use of nitrites and sulfites as food preservatives has been a cause for concern due to the health problems that these additives can cause in humans. Natural products have been studied as an alternative, but most of them have hardly been applied in the food industry for technological and economic reasons. In this sense, organic salts such as sodium acetate are a good alternative due to their affordability. Thus, this study evaluated the capacity of sodium nitrite, sodium sulfite, a sodium acetate product (TQI C-6000), and chitosan to inhibit two important foodborne pathogens, Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes. The MIC of each chemical was in vitro evaluated and their antibacterial action was subsequently checked in situ using minced meat as a food model. MIC values of sodium nitrite (10,000 mg/L) and sodium sulfite (50,000 mg/L) for Salmonella enterica were higher than the values allowed by legislation (450 mg/L for sulfites and 150 mg/L for nitrites). Additionally, the sodium acetate product caused the inhibition of Salmonella enterica and Listeria at a relative low quantity. The two foodborne pathogens were inhibited in the food model with 1% of the sodium acetate product. Additionally, there were no significant differences between sodium nitrite, sodium sulfite, and sodium acetate products in the inhibition of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes in the food model. Thus, products based on sodium acetate can be an alternative to traditional preservatives in food products.

Red Wine and Garlic as a Possible Alternative to Minimize the Use of Nitrite for Controlling Clostridium Sporogenes and Salmonella in a Cured Sausage: Safety and Sensory Implications

“…Although nitrite has been used in meat products mainly to control Cl. botulinum, it has an important inhibitory effect against Salmonella, which is particularly important if the product pH is higher than 5.2 [15,35]. In the present work, the values of pH were higher than that limit, and Salmonella was also inhibited but to a lesser extent in the absence of curing salts or wine.…”

Sulfites in meat: Occurrence, activity, toxicity, regulation, and detection. A comprehensive review

“…Sulfites may be co‐added or even replaced by many new natural preservatives and antioxidants, such as plant and fruit extracts and powders (green tea, rosemary, curry leaves, spinach, broccoli, pomegranate, beetroot), purified active molecules, protein and peptides (polyphenols, chitosan, carvacrol, lysozyme), and essential oils. Studies about this topic should be implemented in order to reduce the amount of added sulfites in meat (Bellés, Alonso, Roncalés, & Beltrán, 2019; Lamas, Miranda, Vazquez, Cepeda, & Franco, 2016; Roller et al., 2002). At the same time, although these alternative meat processing/technologies are promising “substitute candidates,” rigorous processes of technical and safety evaluation are needed (Rulis & Levitt, 2009).…”

Current Challenges and Perspectives for the Use of Aqueous Plant Extracts in the Management of Bacterial Infections: The Case-Study of Salmonella enterica Serovars

“…Similarly, the use of aqueous plant extracts with additives that are already considered to be promising alternatives to traditional preservatives, such as nitrites and sulfites, should be also evaluated. Sodium acetate, for example, could be a promising candidate, since it has been demonstrated to inhibit S. enterica in a food model [ 112 ], as well as to reduce Salmonella biofilm formation [ 113 ].…”