{
  "$schema": "https://foodadditiveindex.com/api/v1/schema.json",
  "id": "https://foodadditiveindex.com/additives/potassium-nitrite",
  "slug": "potassium-nitrite",
  "name": "Potassium nitrite",
  "identifiers": {
    "e_number": "E249",
    "ins_number": "249",
    "cas_number": "1092528-35-2",
    "inchikey": null,
    "pubchem_cid": null
  },
  "functional_class": "Preservative",
  "summary": "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.",
  "derivation_summary": "Manufactured by absorbing nitrogen oxides into potassium carbonate or hydroxide solution.",
  "regulatory_status": [
    {
      "jurisdiction": "US",
      "jurisdiction_name": "United States",
      "authority": "Food and Drug Administration",
      "status": "not_listed",
      "status_label": "Not listed",
      "note": "Does not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited.",
      "provision_count": 0,
      "provisions": []
    },
    {
      "jurisdiction": "CODEX",
      "jurisdiction_name": "Codex Alimentarius",
      "authority": "Codex Alimentarius Commission / JECFA",
      "status": "permitted_with_conditions",
      "status_label": "Permitted, with conditions",
      "provision_count": 2,
      "provisions": [
        {
          "status": "permitted_with_conditions",
          "food_category": {
            "system": "codex",
            "code": "08.2.2",
            "name": "Heat-treated processed meat, poultry, and game products in whole pieces or cuts"
          },
          "max_level": 80,
          "max_level_unit": "mg/kg",
          "conditions": "GSFA notes: 32 & 288",
          "effective_from": "2014",
          "citation": {
            "ref": "CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 249, food category 08.2.2",
            "url": "https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/dbs/gsfa/en/"
          },
          "source": "gsfa",
          "retrieved_at": "2026-09-07T07:54:15.059Z"
        },
        {
          "status": "permitted_with_conditions",
          "food_category": {
            "system": "codex",
            "code": "08.3",
            "name": "Processed comminuted meat, poultry, and game products"
          },
          "max_level": 80,
          "max_level_unit": "mg/kg",
          "conditions": "GSFA notes: 32, 286 & 287",
          "effective_from": "2014",
          "citation": {
            "ref": "CXS 192-1995 Table One, INS 249, food category 08.3",
            "url": "https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/dbs/gsfa/en/"
          },
          "source": "gsfa",
          "retrieved_at": "2026-09-07T07:54:15.059Z"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "names": [
    {
      "name": "1092528-35-2",
      "type": "cas",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "7758-09-0",
      "type": "cas",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "E 249",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "NITRITES",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "gsfa"
    },
    {
      "name": "Potassium nitrite",
      "type": "common",
      "source": "gsfa"
    },
    {
      "name": "E249",
      "type": "e_number",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "249",
      "type": "ins",
      "source": "gsfa"
    },
    {
      "name": "nitrite",
      "type": "iupac",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    },
    {
      "name": "potassium nitrite",
      "type": "iupac",
      "source": "openfoodtox"
    }
  ],
  "hazard_reference_values": [
    {
      "type": "ADI",
      "value": 0.07,
      "value_text": null,
      "unit": "mg/kg bw/day",
      "population": "consumers",
      "assessing_body": "EFSA ANS",
      "year": 2017,
      "opinion": {
        "ref": "doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4786",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4786"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "ADI",
      "value": 0.07,
      "value_text": null,
      "unit": "mg/kg bw/day",
      "population": "consumers",
      "assessing_body": "EFSA CONTAM",
      "year": 2009,
      "opinion": {
        "ref": "doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1017",
        "url": "https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2009.1017"
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "ADI",
      "value": 0.07,
      "value_text": null,
      "unit": "mg/kg bw/day",
      "population": "consumers",
      "assessing_body": "EFSA",
      "year": null,
      "opinion": null
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "key": "gsfa",
      "name": "Codex General Standard for Food Additives (CXS 192-1995)",
      "publisher": "Codex Alimentarius Commission (FAO/WHO)",
      "licence": "FAO terms — non-commercial use with attribution",
      "url": "https://www.fao.org/fao-who-codexalimentarius/codex-texts/dbs/gsfa/en/",
      "retrieved_at": "2026-09-07T07:54:15.059Z"
    }
  ],
  "citation_policy": "Cite as: Food Additive Index, \"Potassium nitrite\", https://foodadditiveindex.com/additives/potassium-nitrite. This site reports regulatory status and does not rate additives.",
  "generated_at": "2026-09-08T00:09:38.654Z"
}