Nitrite in Edible Bird’s Nest: A Contamination.

F.I. Faridah, N.H. Akma, G.S.L. Keny, M. Khairunnisak and I. Norakmar

Edible bird nest (EBN) industry is rapidly expanding in Malaysia since 2006 and their popularity has spread out. It begins with EBN collected from the cave, then producers started renovating shop houses or built new houses to attract swiftlets (Aerodramus fuchipages) to produce EBN in their premises. Now there are more than 50,000 swiftlets premises throughout Malaysia but only 1,083 are awarded with Animal Husbandary Accreditatioa Scheme (SALT), 15 processing plants are awarded for VHM and 4 traders are awarded for GVHP under Department of Veterinary services (DVS) to ensure their premises are free from Avian influenza, Newcastle disease and Salmonellosis as well to ensure EBN products are safe for human consumption. Somehow, the industry was impeded since the banned of the importation by China because of high nitrite content. Hence, Malaysian Standard had limited the amount of nitrite in raw EBN as less than 30 ppm. Most of all nitrite contained in EBN is due to natural contamination from nitrogen cycle.