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

Abstract

Sulfites are a class of chemical compounds, SO2 releasers, widely used as additives in food industry, due to their antimicrobial, color stabilizing, antibrowning, and antioxidant properties. As the results of these pleiotropic functions they can be added to a broad range of products including dried fruits and vegetables, seafood, juices, alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage, and in few meat products. Sulfites ingestion has been correlated with several adverse and toxic reactions, such as hypersensitivity, allergic diseases, vitamin deficiency, and may lead to dysbiotic events of gut and oral microbiota. In many countries, these additives are closely regulated and in meat products the legislation restricts their usage. Several studies have been conducted to investigate the sulfites contents in meat and meat products, and many of them have revealed that some meat preparations represent one of the main sources of SO2 exposure, especially in adults and young people. This review discusses properties, technological functions, regulation, and health implications of sulfites in meat‐based foods, and lays a special emphasis on the chemical mechanisms involved in their interactions with organic and inorganic meat components.

Veggie burgers in the EU market: a nutritional challenge?

“…Sulphur dioxide/sulphites were employed mostly in poultry burger but was not declared in any of the veggie products. Sulphur dioxide/sulphites are commonly used in burgers as food preservatives to prevent browning or discoloration owing to their antimicrobial, color stabilizing, antibrowning, and antioxidant properties [45]. In Europe, the Regulations (EC) no.…”

Plant-Based Phenolic Molecules as Natural Preservatives in Comminuted Meats: A Review

“…Since the industrial revolution, the food industry has been using, with relative success, synthetic chemical preservatives such as sodium metabisulfite [5], potassium sorbate [6], sodium benzoate [7], butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) [8], butylated hydroxianisole (BHA) [9], sodium nitrite [10] and more to ensure the safety and quality of meat products by inhibiting and preventing the growth of spoilage and pathogenic cells and delaying the oxidation of lipids and proteins. Because of the growing body of evidence about the potential toxicity of these preservatives, consumers have become skeptical and are asking for a healthier food [11].…”

Identification of mechanically separated meat in meat products: a simplified analytical approach by ion chromatography with conductivity detection

“…Almost 50 years have passed since the introduction of modern ion chromatography (IC, and it may be affirmed that this technique has assumed a prominent role in a great variety of analytical fields (Small et al ., 1975; Sarzanini, 2002; D'Amore et al ., 2020). Environmental and geochemical analysis, toxicology and ecotoxicology, clinical tests, quality control of medicines and pharmaceutical products, food safety and quality, industrial and technological process audit are only some areas of the IC application (López‐Ruiz, 2000; Michalski, 2009).…”