Halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Chinese traditional sausages with high salt: Profiles in market samples and formation during home cooking

Halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (XPAHs) are likely to be generated by the reaction between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and halide ions and therefore pose a great threat to high salt food safety. The aim is to explore the profiles of PAHs/XPAHs in market sausages and their formation during home cooking. Concentrations of PAH24 and XPAH18 in 36 market samples were 5.18-408.52 μg/kg and 0.05-0.41 μg/kg, respectively. Smoked sausages exhibited significantly higher concentrations of PAHs than non-smoked sausages. While ready-to-eat sausages presented notably higher XPAH levels than raw sausages. Furthermore, overcooking, such as baking at 220 °C, could result in an exaggerated increase in PAHs. Meanwhile, the increased chlorinated PAH levels after cooking indicated the unintentional formation of XPAHs during sausage cooking. Based on the ILCR model, the intake of 12.7 g/d for males and 10.8 g/d for females is the maximum threshold to achieve negligible risk levels (10-6).

The Content of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Slavonska slanina—Traditionally Smoked and Dry-Cured Bacon

The goal of this study was to determine the concentrations of 16 PAHs (PAH16) naphthalene—Nap, acenaphthylene—Anl, acenaphthene—Ane, fluorene—Flu, phenanthrene—Phen, anthracene—Ant, fluoranthene—Flt, pyrene—Pyr, benz[a]anthracene—BaA, chrysene—Chry, benzo[b]fluoranthene—BbF, benzo[k]fluoranthene—BkF, benzo[a]pyrene—BaP, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene—InP, dibenz[a,h]anthracene—DahA and benzo[g,h,i]perylene—BghiP) in Slavonska slanina traditionally smoked bacon over open fire and industrially smoked on a smoke generator with a heated plate. In the samples of Slavoska slanina smoked in a traditional manner, the presence of 11 out of 16 analyzed PAHs was determined (Nap, Anl, Ane, Fln, Ant, Phen, Flt, BaA, Pyr, BbF, BkF). In the samples smoked in industrial conditions, only 2 out of 16 (Nap, Anl) were quantified. In the samples smoked with open fire (the traditional method), PAH4 (BaA, BaP BbF, Chry) concentations were as follows: 14.84 μg kg−1 in the middle, 10.60 μg kg−1 on the surface and 17.37 μg kg−1 in the skin, while the PAH4 content in the samples smoked in industrial conditions were below the level of quantification (<LOQ). The content of carcinogenic BaP was below the limit of quantification in all investigated samples. These findings support the fact that traditional smoking may result in a product safe for consumption, as far as the prescribed legislative recommendations are concerned, but constant monitoring is still needed.

Advances in Microbial Fermentation Processes

In the food sector, fermentation processes have been the object of great interest in regard to enhancing the yield, the quality, and the safety of the final product [...]