Abstract: Nitrite is a common food additive. However, excessive nitrite can react with amides in the human body to form carcinogenic nitrosamine compounds. Therefore, it is necessary to detect nitrites for food safety and human health. Compared with traditional detection methods, the electrochemical method has many advantages including easy and convenient operation with simple instruments, rapid detection, and high sensitivity. Since graphene possesses many attractive electrochemical properties (i.e. a wide electrochemical window, high electrocatalytic activity and fast electron transfer rate), graphene and its composites have become ideal electrode modifying materials for electrochemical sensors for the detection of nitrite. The dispersibility and processing suitability of graphene can be improved by modifying electrochemical sensors with graphene-based composites, thereby enhancing the electrocatalytic activity and detection selectivity. In this article, we review recent progress in the application of nano-metal particle/graphene, metal complex/graphene, metal oxide nanoparticles/graphene, polymer nanosmaterial/graphene and non-metallic nanoparticle/graphene composites for the determination of nitrite in foodstuffs, with focus on the design principles and the electrode reaction mechanism. Moreover, the detection performances of electrochemical sensors modified with various graphene-based composites are compared. This review demonstrates that the graphene-based composites are advantageous over traditional methods. Finally, the shortcomings of graphene-based composite modified electrodes are discussed, and future prospects and directions for their application in nitrite detection in foodstuffs are presented.

Key words: nitrite, electrochemical determination, graphene, composite materials, food detection, electrochemical sensor