Clinical trial · Interventional
Natural Compounds to Reduce Nitrite in Meat Products
Natural Compounds to Reduce Nitrite in Meat Products: PHYTOME
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
The PHYTOME project (Phytochemicals to reduce nitrite in meat products) is a major European Union (EU) co-funded research project that aims to develop innovative meat products in which the food additive nitrite has been replaced by natural compounds originating from fruits and vegetables. These biologically active compounds, also referred to as phytochemicals, are known to contribute to improved gut health and are added to the meat as natural extracts. In a number of meat products, carefully selected combinations of natural antioxidants and other biologically active compounds occurring in vegetables, fruits and natural extracts such as coffee and tea, will be added during meat processing. Some of these compounds possess an antimicrobial activity allowing them to replace nitrite, whereas others possess a natural red colour that may contribute to the desired appearance of the products. Also, some of these compounds are known to protect colonic cells against damaging effects of cancer causing agents that may be formed in the large intestine after meat consumption. The PHYTOME project will develop new technologies to introduce the natural extracts during processing to different types of meat products. These techniques will guarantee good sensory quality of the product as well as microbiological safety. Once these techniques have been developed and optimized at laboratory scale, the new type of products will be produced on an industrial scale. The health promoting effects of these products will be evaluated in a human dietary intervention study with healthy volunteers. After consumption of a fully controlled diet with either relatively high amounts of the traditional meat products or products produced following the new concept, faeces and colonic material will be collected and investigated for markers of colorectal cancer risk. These investigations will be performed in close collaboration with Research Institutes in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy and Greece, and will make use of the newest genomics techniques that are available.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colon Cancer | Malignant Colon Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
Interventions
Interventions (4)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drinking water containing nitrate up to acceptable daily intake level (ADI = 3.7 mg/kg bw) in combination with 300 grams of processed meat, white meat or processed meat enriched with natural compounds | Dietary Supplement | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Processed meat product | Dietary Supplement | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Processed meat products enriched with natural compounds | Dietary Supplement | — | UNRESOLVED |
| White meat wash-out | Dietary Supplement | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Normal nitrite levels
- description
- Processed meat products enriched with natural compounds will contain normal nitrite levels.
- interventionNames
- Dietary Supplement: Processed meat product
- Dietary Supplement: White meat wash-out
- Dietary Supplement: Processed meat products enriched with natural compounds
- Dietary Supplement: Drinking water containing nitrate up to acceptable daily intake level (ADI = 3.7 mg/kg bw) in combination with 300 grams of processed meat, white meat or processed meat enriched with natural compounds
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Reduced nitrite levels
- description
- Processed meat products enriched with natural compounds will contain reduced nitrite levels
- interventionNames
- Dietary Supplement: Processed meat product
- Dietary Supplement: White meat wash-out
- Dietary Supplement: Processed meat products enriched with natural compounds
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 70 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Healthy with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18-25, male or female * Between 18-70 years old Exclusion Criteria: * Alcohol abuse up to 6 months before participation in this research * Current aberrations or insufficiency of kidney, liver, gut, heart or lungs * Current presence of persistent inflammation in the gut or liver * Current endocrine or metabolic aberrations * Current anaemia or infection * HIV infection or hepatitis * Use of antibiotics and other medication over the last 3 months * Current smokers * Vegetarians * Pregnant women * Participants of other intervention studies during this intervention period.
References
Publications (38)
- BACKGROUNDde Oliveira CE, Stamford TL, Gomes Neto NJ, de Souza EL. Inhibition of Staphylococcus aureus in broth and meat broth using synergies of phenolics and organic acids. Int J Food Microbiol. 2010 Feb 28;137(2-3):312-6. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2009.11.019. Epub 2009 Dec 3. PMID 20004993
- BACKGROUNDBurt S. Essential oils: their antibacterial properties and potential applications in foods--a review. Int J Food Microbiol. 2004 Aug 1;94(3):223-53. doi: 10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2004.03.022. PMID 15246235
- BACKGROUNDCheng KW, Chen F, Wang M. Inhibitory activities of dietary phenolic compounds on heterocyclic amine formation in both chemical model system and beef patties. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2007 Aug;51(8):969-76. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.200700032. PMID 17628877
- BACKGROUNDHughes R, Cross AJ, Pollock JR, Bingham S. Dose-dependent effect of dietary meat on endogenous colonic N-nitrosation. Carcinogenesis. 2001 Jan;22(1):199-202. doi: 10.1093/carcin/22.1.199. PMID 11159760
- BACKGROUNDLunn JC, Kuhnle G, Mai V, Frankenfeld C, Shuker DE, Glen RC, Goodman JM, Pollock JR, Bingham SA. The effect of haem in red and processed meat on the endogenous formation of N-nitroso compounds in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Carcinogenesis. 2007 Mar;28(3):685-90. doi: 10.1093/carcin/bgl192. Epub 2006 Oct 19. PMID 17052997
- BACKGROUNDCross AJ, Major JM, Sinha R. Urinary biomarkers of meat consumption. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011 Jun;20(6):1107-11. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-11-0048. Epub 2011 Apr 28. PMID 21527577
- BACKGROUNDHall CN, Badawi AF, O'Connor PJ, Saffhill R. The detection of alkylation damage in the DNA of human gastrointestinal tissues. Br J Cancer. 1991 Jul;64(1):59-63. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1991.239. PMID 1854628