Chemistry. a yellowish or white crystalline compound, NaNO 2 , soluble in water, slightly soluble in alcohol and ether: used in the manufacture of dyes and as a color fixative.
2.
Nutrition. this compound added to food as a preservative and for flavor and color, especially in pork, fish, and beef products: implicated in the formation of suspected carcinogens.
The products contain sodium nitrite, but the product label does not list sodium nitrite as an ingredient.
sodium nitrite in Medicine
sodium nitriten. A white crystalline compound used to lower systemic blood pressure, to relieve local vasomotor spasms, to relax bronchial and intestinal spasms, and as an antidote for cyanide poisoning.