Curing Agents
Sodium or potassium nitrite
Parameters
- Named in the chart as
- Sodium nitrite, potassium nitrite
- Chart entries
- 1
- Purposes
- To fix color
- Curing agent
- yes
9 CFR 424.21, chart at paragraph (c). eCFR as in force on 2026-01-01, retrieved 2026-09-04.
Condition attached to the substance in the chart
supplies of sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite and mixtures containing them must be kept under the care of a responsible employee of the establishment. The specific nitrite content of such supplies must be known and clearly marked accordingly
This entry covers 2 substances
9 CFR 424.21(c) names these jointly rather than separately, so Sodium nitrite and potassium nitrite share one row, one purpose and one permitted amount. Everything below applies to either of them, and a product using one is subject to the same figure as a product using the other.
They are not interchangeable in practice, though. The chart is a permission, not a statement that the two behave alike: which one a process uses changes how quickly the curing agent becomes available, which is why the retail cures are sold as two different blends.
Permitted uses and amounts
| Class | Purpose | Products | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curing Agents | To fix color | Cured meat and poultry products. Nitrites may not be used in baby, junior, or toddler foods | 2 lb to 100 gal pickle at 10 percent pump level; 1 oz to 100 lb meat or poultry product (dry cure); 1⁄4 oz to 100 lb chopped meat, meat byproduct or poultry product. The use of nitrites, nitrates or combination shall not result in more than 200 ppm of nitrite, calculated as sodium nitrite in finished product, except that nitrites may be used in bacon only in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section. |
Footnotes referenced above
- 2 Information as to the specific products for which use of this additive is approved may be obtained upon inquiry addressed to the Labeling and Additives Policy Division, Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250.
What this means in parts per million
The chart states its curing-agent limits as a weight of salt against a weight of meat. Converted, using the exact definitions of the pound and the ounce:
| Product class | ppm | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Chopped or comminuted meat, meat byproduct or poultry | 156.25 | 9 CFR 424.21(c), curing agents |
| Dry cure applied to whole muscle | 625.00 | 9 CFR 424.21(c), curing agents |
| Bacon, injected or massaged | 120.00 | 9 CFR 424.22(b)(1) |
| Bacon, immersion cured | 120.00 | 9 CFR 424.22(b)(2) |
| Bacon, made with dry curing materials | 200.00 | 9 CFR 424.22(b)(3) |
The arithmetic is set out on the ingoing nitrite calculator, along with the one chart figure this site declines to convert.
What is actually sold, and why it is not this
Nobody sells this to a home curer as the pure salt, and nobody should. Sodium nitrite is acutely toxic in quantities that are small next to a cure batch, which is the whole reason 9 CFR 424.21(c) is written as a limit on the ingoing amount and requires that the specific nitrite content of a supply be known and clearly marked. What is sold instead is a blend: roughly 6.25 percent sodium nitrite in ordinary salt, dyed pink so that it cannot be picked up in mistake for table salt.
That dilution is what makes the arithmetic on this site workable at kitchen scale. Weighing 0.156 g of a pure salt is not something a domestic scale can do; weighing 2.5 g of a 6.25 percent blend is. The blend is the product this page links, and this site does not link a pure reagent form of a curing agent even where one is listed, because the retail packaging of a diluted product is itself a safety control.
Read the stated percentage off the container and put that figure into the ingoing nitrite calculator rather than assuming it. Blends at other percentages exist.
Affiliate links
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Listing
- Lowest new, checked 2026-09-04
- $13.99
- Brand
- The Spice Lab
- ASIN
- B075ZFG6S1
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Source: Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), Title 9, 9 CFR 424.21. Parsed from eCFR XML as in force on 2026-01-01, retrieved 2026-09-04. Read the section