Foods High in Nitrates: Vegetable Values and Meat Curing Rules

The foods high in nitrates are mostly vegetables, led by leafy ones. In the largest European data set, compiled by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) from nearly 42,000 analyses, median nitrate levels ranged from 1 milligram per kilogram in peas and Brussels sprouts to 4,800 milligrams per kilogram in rucola, also called arugula or rocket. Rhubarb, lettuces, beet leaves, chard, beetroot and radishes were also high, while tomatoes, onions and potatoes were low. USDA SR Legacy, the database we use for most food guides, has no nitrate values, so this list uses EFSA’s tables and peer-reviewed databases.

Peptide Labs does not sell foods. This article is general nutrition information, not medical advice.

Foods high in nitrates: EFSA median values

The table lists the vegetables high in nitrates, plus a few herbs, by median value in EFSA’s 2008 opinion, which pooled 41,969 results from 20 EU member states and Norway. Values are milligrams of nitrate per kilogram of fresh vegetable, as EFSA reported them; 1,000 milligrams per kilogram equals 100 milligrams per 100 grams. The 95th percentile column shows how high the upper end of the EFSA samples ran.

Our guides include arugula, beet greens, Swiss chard, romaine, iceberg lettuce, spinach, radish, fennel and celery. EFSA notes that the spinach median, 785 milligrams per kilogram, was well below the maximum level then allowed in the EU, though 5% of spinach samples exceeded 3,000. Our beetroot guide covers the root most often discussed for its nitrate.

Vegetables lower in nitrate

At the other end, EFSA’s tables show these median values in milligrams per kilogram. Small sample counts in EFSA’s data make some less certain; watercress, for example, rests on only 25 samples.

Why nitrate rich foods vary so much

EFSA explains that nitrate accumulates more in leaves than in seeds or tubers, which is why lettuces and spinach generally rank high and peas rank low. EFSA found that the main driver of high nitrate exposure is which vegetables people eat and the conditions they were grown in, not simply how many. The single highest EFSA result, 19,925 milligrams per kilogram, came from oak-leaf lettuce grown under cover in Norway, and 56% of rucola samples exceeded 4,500 milligrams per kilogram, according to EFSA.

A 2017 reference database by Blekkenhorst and colleagues, built from 4,237 records in 255 publications, covered 178 vegetables, with medians from 4,240 milligrams per kilogram in Chinese flat cabbage to 12 in corn. A 2022 update by Zhong and colleagues, covering 264 plant foods from 64 countries, ranked leaf vegetables first, then stem and shoot vegetables, herbs and spices, and root vegetables, with fruits and cereals lowest; Zhong’s team also found far more nitrate in banana and strawberry than previously recognised.

Nitrate in vegetables versus nitrite added in meat curing

Hord and colleagues, writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2009, estimate that about 80% of dietary nitrate comes from vegetables, and that nitrite comes from vegetables, fruit and processed meats. Hord’s team notes that bacteria in the mouth and gut convert part of the nitrate we eat into nitrite, and EFSA notes that most nitrite exposure comes from that conversion rather than from food. EFSA also lists nitric oxide among the metabolites of nitrate; our beetroot guide discusses it, and this list makes no health promises.

Under USDA rules (9 CFR 424.21), sodium or potassium nitrite may be added to meat and poultry products made by curing to fix color, and sodium or potassium nitrate may serve as a source of nitrite in those meat products other than bacon. Under 9 CFR 424.21 neither may be used in baby, junior or toddler foods, and in most products the combination may not leave more than 200 parts per million of nitrite, calculated as sodium nitrite, with separate rules for bacon. The label rule in 9 CFR 317.17 requires curing ingredients to appear in the ingredients statement.

• Under 9 CFR 317.17, a product such as bacon made without nitrate or nitrite may be labeled Uncured and must state No Nitrate or Nitrite Added.
• USDA FSIS said in a 2020 letter that it intends to propose rules prohibiting those claims on products made with any nitrate or nitrite source, including celery powder.
• EFSA’s 2017 review estimated that nitrate used as a food additive is less than 5% of overall dietary nitrate exposure.
• EFSA’s 2017 nitrite review reported some epidemiological evidence linking dietary nitrite to gastric cancers and nitrite plus nitrate from processed meat to colorectal cancers.

See also our guides to deli meat, bacon, ham and hot dogs.

What EFSA concluded about safety

EFSA uses an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for nitrate of 3.7 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, set by the former EU Scientific Committee on Food and reconfirmed by the FAO/WHO expert committee JECFA in 2002; EFSA expresses it as 222 milligrams a day for a 60-kilogram adult. This is a regulatory reference value, not an intake target. In its 2008 opinion, EFSA concluded that estimated nitrate exposures from vegetables are unlikely to result in appreciable health risks, and that the recognised benefits of eating vegetables prevail. EFSA noted that the small share of people in some countries, about 2.5%, who eat only leafy vegetables in high amounts could exceed the ADI.

EFSA also reported that epidemiological studies do not suggest that nitrate intake from diet or drinking water is associated with increased cancer risk, while evidence on high nitrite intake is equivocal. EFSA’s 2017 review of nitrate as a food additive kept the ADI in place and estimated that, with all sources counted, intake would exceed the ADI at average and high exposure in all age groups.

Infants, well water and home-made purees

EFSA notes that infants younger than 3 months are more susceptible to methemoglobinemia, in which nitrite reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. The AAP’s 2005 clinical report states that infants whose formula may be prepared with well water remain a high-risk group and reinforces testing well water for nitrate. The AAP found little or no risk from commercially prepared infant foods in the US, but noted that reports of nitrate poisoning from home-prepared vegetable foods for infants continue to occur, and that breastfed infants are not at risk.

EFSA’s 2008 opinion cites a study that found high nitrite in home-made vegetable purees even after refrigerated storage of 12 hours or more; those authors recommended preparing infant food for immediate use or freezing it. EFSA’s 2009 panel, as summarized in its 2017 review, recommended against feeding spinach to infants and children with bacterial infections of the gut. Ask a pediatrician before introducing high-nitrate vegetables to a baby.

Washing, peeling, cooking and storage

Nitrate dissolves in water, so preparation changes how much is left. EFSA’s 2008 opinion summarizes these findings:

• Washing leafy vegetables lowered nitrate by 10% to 15%, and removing the stems and midribs of lettuce and spinach lowered it by 30% to 40%, according to EFSA.
• Cooking in water removed 16% to 79% of nitrate across several vegetables in the studies EFSA reviewed, and boiling removed about half in carrots, parsley root, celery and potatoes.
• Fermentation lowered nitrate by up to 50% in red beet and up to 87% in white cabbage, per EFSA.
• EFSA reports that at room temperature nitrate in stored vegetables tends to fall while nitrite tends to rise; under refrigeration nitrite stayed low, and freezing showed no significant change.

For vegetables eaten raw, EFSA notes, only handling and storage affect nitrate. Our guide to leafy vegetables and sibling guide to foods high in folate cover what else these vegetables supply.

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Last reviewed October 2026.

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