Sulphur dioxide in meat products: 3-year control results of an accredited Italian laboratory.

Sulphiting agents are well-known food preservatives. The European legislation does not allow their addition in fresh meat preparations. Therefore this type of food products has often been verified. To high sulphite levels in food is a health safety risk, due to toxic effects that these compounds may exercise on humans. In this study the control activity as performed by an Italian accredited laboratory from 2013 to 2015, relating to determination of sulphites in meat products, is described. Six hundred and sixty-nine meat product samples were analysed. Both applied techniques, a screening method (malachite green test) and a confirmatory method (ion chromatography), were accredited. Forty-three samples resulted positive at screening test and nineteen of these samples showed high-sulphite concentrations, in the range 67.6-1437 mg kg-1. The non-negligible percentage of positives (6.4%) and the high concentrations verified confirmed that the control of sulphuring treatment of fresh meat preparations is an important task for organisations in charge of food inspections and control.