Bird''s nest consists of white nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphogus), black nest swiftlet (Aerodramus fuciphogus) The saliva secretion of Swift and other Swifts is mainly distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Bird''s nest is divided into domestic bird''s nest and hole bird''s nest. The domestic bird''s nest is produced in the edible bird''s nest built by humans; the cave bird''s nest is produced in islands or seaside caves with very little production.

　　Because natural bird''s nest (including domestic bird''s nest and cave bird''s nest) will contain feathers or sand and other debris during the formation process, after the bird''s nest is collected, it needs to be sorted, soaked in water, cleaned, feathers and other impurities removed Food, remodeling, heating and drying, packaging and other processes to make edible bird''s nest.

　　All in all, the main component of the bird''s nest is the swallow''s spit. As for the use of such saliva, this is a bit of a benevolence and a benevolence. What magical function can swallow spittle have? Some people think so. Some people have different ideas: this is definitely not ordinary spittle, otherwise you can use spittle to produce a "wo" for us to see?

　　 Therefore, there is no shortage of followers in bird nest. There are reports that most of the bird''s nests of origin are sold to Chinese. The domestic bird''s nest market is huge. Until last year, the blood swallow fraud incident occurred. First, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce found that after the country of origin recognized, there was no qualified blood swallow. The blood swallows that are popular on the market are just the color of the common bird''s nest + swallow feces. Blood Swallow is actually a swallow cake, this joke is big. The most unexpected thing is that someone actually said: Since swallow spittle (common bird nest) has good value, will swallow Baba (blood swallow) be more valuable?

　　Ok , To return to the truth, talk about the nitrite in the bird''s nest.

　　On April 5, the Ministry of Health issued the “Letter on Notifying the Temporary Management Limit Value of Nitrite in Edible Bird’s Nest”, and the temporary management limit value for edible bird nest was 30 mg/kg.

　　According to the "Food Additives Standards" (GB2760), nitrite is only allowed to be used in meat products, and specifies the specific residue (except for Western-style ham 70 mg/kg, canned meat 50 mg/ In addition to kilograms, all others are 30 mg/kg), and the use of nitrite in other foods is prohibited. Therefore, the production and processing of bird''s nest must not add nitrite. Adding nitrite is illegal and should be severely punished according to law.

So, where does the nitrite in bird''s nest come from? Nitrite naturally occurs in the environment, food and water and is a food contaminant. The Limits of Contaminants in Food (GB2762-2005) stipulates the limit of nitrite in food, and the maximum limit of pickled vegetables is 20 mg/kg.

　　Natural bird''s nest contains nitrite, and its content is related to a variety of factors, including the naturally occurring nitrite in the swallow''s saliva, the ammonia concentration in the bird''s nest or cave environment, and bird''s nest polluted by bird droppings. Because nitrite is easily soluble in water, the nitrite content of bird''s nest can be significantly reduced by soaking and cleaning, so that the nitrite in edible bird''s nest is only trace.

　　In view of the fact that the Codex Alimentarius Commission does not set a limit for the consumption of nitrite in bird’s nest (not surprisingly, because they may not even know that some people eat swallow spit), in order to strictly regulate the consumption of nitrite in bird’s nest Based on the joint risk assessment of experts from China and Malaysia, the Ministry of Health of China has formulated a temporary management limit for nitrite in edible bird''s nest. The nitrite in production and operation and imported edible bird''s nest shall be less than or equal to 30 mg/kg.