Sodium nitrate

Sodium nitrate supplies nitrate, which bacteria can convert to nitrite during curing and after ingestion. Under some conditions, this pathway can form cancer-causing N-nitroso compounds; nitrate also participates in normal nitric oxide biology. IARC’s classification of ingested nitrate or nitrite as probably carcinogenic applies specifically to conditions that result in nitrosation inside the body. It does not establish that sodium nitrate itself causes cancer at permitted food levels.

EFSA’s 2017 assessment found no genotoxicity concern and negative animal cancer studies, retained the nitrate intake value of 3.7 mg/kg body weight per day, and estimated additive-only exposure below that value. More recent human evidence is mixed. A 2026 Danish study linked nitrate from processed meats to gastric cancer, but could not separate nitrate from other meat constituents. Recent Danish and Swedish colorectal studies found no association with dietary nitrate.

A French cohort linked potassium nitrate to some cancers; sodium nitrate was too rarely consumed for its own analysis, and nitrate additives were not associated with diabetes. These findings support concern about the curing and dietary context, while leaving sodium-nitrate-specific risk uncertain. Evidence about whole vegetables, contaminated water or concentrated supplements cannot be transferred directly to this food additive. An ingredient list does not reveal the amount consumed.

Research reviewed on September 5, 2026 · 12 sources