CONTENT OF B[A]P IN PROCESSED MEAT PRODUCTS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET

The determination analyses of PAHs contents in smoked, fried, and grilled meat products provide information on the level of PAHs contamination in those products. In order to reduce the contamination of food products, there were determined the highest permissible levels of benzo(a)pyren B[a]P in foods containing certain fats and oils, as well as in smoked food products. The qualitative and quantitative determination analysis of PAHs in processed foods incl. meat is carried out using chromatographic methods exclusively since the PAHs occur in trace amounts. The objective of this study was to determine the level of contamination by benzo(a)pyrene (B[a]P) in some selected processed meat products smoked using a traditional smoking method and available on the market. The procedure of preparing samples for the determination: of benzo(a)pyrene content comprised the following: extraction of lipid fraction, SEC (Size Exclusion Chromatography) technique to separate hydrocarbons from fat, and high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HCLP/FLD). As many as 98% of all the analyzed samples of smoked processed meat products were characterized by a content of benzo(a)pyrene that was below its permissible hovel set for the food products of this type; among other things, this fact proves that the smoking process v as appropriately performed.