Determination of the amounts of metals (Fe,Zn,Cu,Cd and Pb) in meat and meat products

Because the levels of trace metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb) are very low in meat and meat products (shelf-life, medium-life; cooked and pate; chicken and beef sausages, canned meat and meat salades), contamination is always a problem. The method of a quantitative determination of metals was AAS-method after dry digestion of the examined samples at a temperature of t = 530 degreesC. The generated ash was dissolved with a 6 mol/l HCl solution, in order to transfer metals into solution. Samples with concentration metals, below the optimum range should be analysed with flame AAS technique. The concentration of the metal cation was determined using a calibration curve prepared with the standard solution or read directly from the instruments. The results were expressed as micrograms per gram of meat. The AAS method is inexpensive, reproducible and easily adaptable to routine operations for the simultaneous determination micro-metals ( Fe, Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb) in meat and meat products. Out of a hundred samples tested for the presence of trace metals, during a continued quality control of meat and meat products, in the Sarajevo Canton, in the period between January and December 2000, only two samples contained Cu in the amount slightly above the allowed quantities.