Sodium nitrite is the preservative the food industry lists as E250. 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 (probably carcinogenic) explicitly for the ingested/dietary route, confirmed in the IARC classification list (List_of_Classifications, entry 'Nitrate or nitrite (ingested) ... 2A / 94 / 2010') (IARC Monographs Vol. 94 (2010), 'Ingested nitrate or nitrite under conditions that result 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. It turns up in 87 of the 10,000 packaged foods scanned most on Open Food Facts, most often in processed meats and ready meals. Nine in ten of those foods are sold in Europe (counted 26 Sep 2026).
- 4 citations from IARC, EFSA and the FDA, each one below.
What Sodium 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. Sodium 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.
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IARC
Monographs Vol. 94 (2010) — 'Ingested nitrate or nitrite under conditions that result in endogenous nitrosation', Group 2A
Group 2A (probably carcinogenic) explicitly for the ingested/dietary route, confirmed in the IARC classification list (List_of_Classifications, entry 'Nitrate or nitrite (ingested) ... 2A / 94 / 2010'). -
EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2017.4786 (EFSA Journal 2017;15(6):4786)
ADI 0.07 mg nitrite ion/kg bw/day (BMD approach, methaemoglobin). Exposure from additive use 'did not exceed this ADI for the general population, except for a slight exceedance in children at the highest percentile', and represented approximately 17% of overall dietary exposure; counting all dietary sources the ADI is exceeded for infants, toddlers and children at the mean. -
IARC
Monographs Vol. 114 (2018) — processed meat, Group 1
Consumption of processed meat (the food category nitrite is used to cure) is Group 1 — context for the product vehicle, not a classification of the additive itself. -
FDA
21 CFR §172.175 (sodium nitrite); §181.34 (prior-sanctioned nitrite in curing)
Remains a permitted curing agent in the US with use limits; no US ban or phase-out.
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 Sodium nitrite (E250) 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 (probably carcinogenic) explicitly for the ingested/dietary route, confirmed in the IARC classification list (List_of_Classifications, entry 'Nitrate or nitrite (ingested) ... 2A / 94 / 2010') (IARC Monographs Vol. 94 (2010), 'Ingested nitrate or nitrite under conditions that result in endogenous nitrosation', Group 2A).
What is E250?
E250 is the E number for Sodium nitrite, a preservative. Open Food Facts tags it en:e250.
Next to it on the label
The E numbers either side of E250 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
- Potassium nitrite (E249), high risk, flagged for young children
- Sodium nitrate (E251), high risk, flagged for young children
- Potassium nitrate (E252), high risk, flagged for young children