Daily consumption of sodium and nitrite from Serbian meat products: insights from principal component analysis

Milica Vidosavljević; Tatjana Peulić; Predrag Ikonić; Bojana Ikonić; Jovana Delić; Marija Jokanović; Jasmina Lazarević

doi:10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.83

Milica Vidosavljević University of Novi Sad, Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4872-8127
Tatjana Peulić University of Novi Sad, Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7074-4633
Predrag Ikonić University of Novi Sad, Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4882-8048
Bojana Ikonić University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4053-9193
Jovana Delić University of Kragujevac, Institute for Information Technologies,Kragujevac, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8764-4110
Marija Jokanović University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1282-175X
Jasmina Lazarević University of Novi Sad, Institute for Food Technology, Novi Sad, Serbia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0538-3365

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18485/meattech.2025.66.3.83

Keywords: meat products, Serbian retail market, , cooked and dry fermented sausages, sodium chloride consumption, nitrite consumption, principal component analysis

Abstract

Sodium chloride and nitrite play important roles in the meat processing industry, significantly influencing the safety, technological, and sensory properties of meat products, with nitrite classified as a food additive and sodium chloride as a food ingredient. Besides this important technological role, excessive intake can lead to human health disorders. Thus, the content of sodium chloride and nitrite in meat products on the Serbian market were analyzed using principal component analysis. A total of 64 meat products produced by the 18 most notable meat processors were collected from the Serbian retail market. The meat products collected belonged to four different groups: dry fermented sausages, finely comminuted cooked sausages, canned meat in pieces, and liver sausages and pates. Mean sodium chloride and nitrite contents for all analyzed meat products were 1.91 g/100g (the highest was for dry fermented sausages 3.67 g/100g; the lowest was for liver sausages and pates 1.19 g/100g) and 7.66 mg/kg (the highest was for chicken hot dogs 13.79 mg/kg; the lowest was for dry fermented sausages 2.17 mg/kg), respectively. The nitrite content in all analyzed meat products was in accordance with the European and Serbian legislation. Considering daily consumption of meat products and dried meat products in Serbia, and based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that consumers in Serbia exceed the recommended average daily consumption for sodium chloride. In conclusion, all possibilities for further reduction of sodium chloride consumption should be considered, especially because Serbia is a high risk country for cardiovascular diseases.