Mutagenicity of five food additives in Ames/Salmonella/microsome test

The mutagenic activity of five food additives (K2S2O5: potassium metabisulphite, KMB; K2SO4: potassium sulphate, KS; Na2SO3: sodium sulphite, SS; KNO3: potassium nitrate, KN; NaNO3: sodium nitrate, SN) were investigated using histidin auxotrophs TA98 and TA100 strains ofSalmonella typhimurium in the presence or absence of S9 mix. The test substance were investigated for their mutagenic effects at non toxic concentrations of 0.83, 1.66, 3.33 and 5.00 mg/plate with and without S9 mix. All the test substances were not mutagenic on TA98 and TA100 strains ofSalmonella typhimurium in the presence or absence of S9 mix except KS and SN. KS and SN showed a weak mutagenic effect on TA100 strain in the absence of S9 mix.