Different strains of lactic acid bacteria isolated from bologna were inoculated into APT broth and vacuum-packed bologna sterilized by gamma radiation. Broth cultures of Leuconostoc mesenteroides reduced nitrite levels at 5 and 15 C at a greater rate than Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus viridescens. Brochothrix thermosphacta and Lactobacillus brevis reduced nitrite at rates similar to the uninoculated broth. Similar nitrite reduction rates were noted with the same organisms in the inoculated packs of bologna at 5 C. Residual nitrite losses in the bologna by action of the lactic acid bacteria was estimated to be 30%.