A bill to prohibit the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from prohibiting the use of nitrites as a food preservative on the basis of any carcinogenic effect nitrites may be represented to have until the development of a satisfactory alternative food preservative.

Prohibits the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from taking any action under the Wholesome Meat Act, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, or any other law to prohibit the sale, distribution, or use of nitrites as a food preservative solely on the basis of any carcinogenic effect in humans that nitrites may be represented to have, unless validated evidence is made available to the Secretaries which proves beyond a reasonable doubt that nitrites as a food preservative have a significant carcinogenic effect on humans.

States that such prohibition shall not apply if the Secretaries determine, and publish in the Federal Register, that a food preservative is commercially available: (1) which may be used in the place of nitrites; (2) which is effective in the protection of public health from botulism and other forms of food poisoning; and (3) the use of which is economically feasible for meat processors and the consumer.

Requires the Secretaries to conduct or support, by grant or contract, research and development activities for a food preservative alternative to nitrites.