Potassium nitrite

E number E249INS 249CAS 1092528-35-2

Used as a preservative — Codex also lists it as colour retention agent.

Potassium nitrite is a curing agent for meat, doing the same job as sodium nitrite: fixing the pink colour, contributing the cured flavour, and suppressing Clostridium botulinum.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Potassium nitrite by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationNot listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

2 food categories

highest permitted level 80 mg/kg

Show every food category
  • 08.2.2 Heat-treated processed meat, poultry, and game products in whole pieces or cuts — 80 mg/kg
  • 08.3 Processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products — 80 mg/kg
CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 249and 1 further provisionretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Manufactured by absorbing nitrogen oxides into potassium carbonate or hydroxide solution.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
1092528-35-2

Every name it appears under

9 recorded names. A label may use any of them.

E number

  • E249

INS number

  • 249

CAS registry number

  • 1092528-35-2
  • 7758-09-0

Other names

  • E 249
  • NITRITES
  • Potassium nitrite

Systematic names

  • nitrite
  • potassium nitrite

Hazard reference values

Values set by assessing bodies. A body that has not set a value is not listed here.
TypeValuePopulationAssessed byOpinion
ADI0.07 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSA ANS2017
ADI0.07 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSA CONTAM2009
ADI0.07 mg/kg bw/dayconsumersEFSAnot identified in the dataset

Evidence and how bodies read it

Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated by hand rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.

Sources for this page

  • gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/potassium-nitrite.json