Sodium nitrite appears as a yellowish white crystalline solid. Sodium nitrite is an inorganic sodium salt having nitrite as the counterion. It has a role as an antimicrobial food preservative, an antihypertensive agent, a food antioxidant, a poison and an antidote to cyanide poisoning. It is a nitrite salt and an inorganic sodium salt. Sodium nitrite solution appears as a clear colorless to yellow solution.