By Oh Young-jin
Staff Reporter

Restaurants of three top hotels were found to have used a "restricted" food additive in their smoked salmon dishes, the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) said Monday.

The three are JW Marriott's buffet restaurant Cafe, Novotel Ambassador's The Bistro and Inter-Continental's Havana bar.

The KFDA's Seoul branch checked samples from 26 cafes and buffet restaurants, and found traces of sodium nitrite in their smoked salmon.

According to the agency, The Bistro's salmon was found to have the largest amount of the food additive, which some scientists say could be a carcinogen. Samples at the Marriott Cafe and Inter-Continental's Havana had the second and third-highest amounts, respectively.

Paul Schenk - director of Inter-Continental's food and beverage department, said through a spokeswoman that all their smoked salmon had been discarded, saying that it is their policy to serve the best products to their customers. Amie Kim, a spokeswoman for Novotel, said, "We were not aware of this inspection in advance."

Kim said that her hotel had checked with the restaurants' association, which said that the chemical in question was not among those on the list of banned food additives.

Marriot's PR department was not available for comment. Health officials said that the restaurants had served smoked salmon as soon as three hours after the additive had been applied.

foolsdie@koreatimes.co.kr

Wikipedia Says

Sodium nitrite is commonly added to bacon, ham, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked fish and corned beef to stabilize the red color and add flavor.

As a food additive, it serves a dual purpose in the food industry since it both alters the color of preserved fish and meats and also prevents growth of clostridium botulinum, the bacteria which causes botulism.

A principal concern regarding sodium nitrite is the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines in meats containing sodium nitrite when exposed to high temperatures.

Sodium nitrite consumption has also been linked to triggering migraines in individuals who already suffer from them.