Potassium nitrite is the preservative the food industry lists as E249. In our table it is high risk: it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100).
- The key finding, from IARC: Group 2A with a dietary exposure route (IARC Monographs Vol. 94 (2010), ingested nitrite under conditions resulting in endogenous nitrosation, Group 2A)
- Flagged for young children. Set only where EFSA’s own exposure assessment shows toddlers or children exceeding or approaching the ADI, or where a regulator used explicitly child-specific language. It is already in our top class, so the flag cannot move it higher.
- Where you meet it. None of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts list it. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 3 citations from IARC, EFSA and the FDA, each one below.
What Potassium nitrite does to a score
A packaged food's additive subscore starts at 100 and loses points for each additive on the label; that subscore is a third of the final score. Potassium nitrite takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). Scan the pack in Sito and the score you get is the one for your own child's age, with this additive named in the reasons. How we score has the whole method.
See what is in your own cupboard
Scan a packaged food and Sito names the additives in it, then scores the product out of 100 for your child's age.
What the sources found
Every classification in our table comes from the citations below, and nothing else. Each finding is our one-line summary of what the source concluded, with the source and reference beside it.
-
IARC
Monographs Vol. 94 (2010) — ingested nitrite under conditions resulting in endogenous nitrosation, Group 2A
Group 2A with a dietary exposure route. -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4786 (title: 'Re-evaluation of potassium nitrite (E 249) and sodium nitrite (E 250) as food additives')
ADI 0.07 mg nitrite ion/kg bw/day; additive-use exposure exceeded the ADI only in children at the highest percentile; all-source exposure exceeds the ADI at the mean for infants, toddlers and children. -
FDA
21 CFR §181.34 (sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite)
Prior-sanctioned for use in curing; still permitted in the US.
Why this class
IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or formally being phased out for food use by the EU, by the US FDA, or under a US state law.
Our confidence in this row's classification is high. Medium or low does not mean the evidence is weak; it means something about the row is still being pinned down, usually a regulatory status confirmed from one source rather than two.
Questions parents ask
Is Potassium nitrite (E249) safe for kids?
High risk. In Sito it takes 30 points off the additive subscore, which is worth a third of a product's score (about 10 of the 100). It is flagged for young children, and it is already in our top class, so the flag cannot move it higher. The finding we rely on: Group 2A with a dietary exposure route (IARC Monographs Vol. 94 (2010), ingested nitrite under conditions resulting in endogenous nitrosation, Group 2A).
What is E249?
E249 is the E number for Potassium nitrite, a preservative. Open Food Facts tags it en:e249.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E249 in our table, then the closest preservatives by number.
- Potassium bisulphite (E228), high risk, flagged for young children
- Natamycin (E235), no risk identified
- Hexamethylene tetramine (E239), moderate risk
- Sodium nitrite (E250), high risk, flagged for young children
- Sodium nitrate (E251), high risk, flagged for young children
- Potassium nitrate (E252), high risk, flagged for young children