Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in German smoked meat products

The contents of the 15+1 EU priority PAH were analysed from 113 representative commercial smoked German meat products collected in the year 2006 with a Fast-GC/HRMS method. The median of benzo[a]pyrene content was 0.03 μg/kg and therefore greater than a factor of 100 below the maximum level of 5 μg/kg. The highest content of benzo[a]pyrene was detected in a Frankfurter-type sausage (0.43 μg/kg). The sum content of benzo[a]pyrene, benzo[a]anthracene, chrysene and benzo[b]fluoranthene (“PAH4”), as proposed by the European Food Safety Authority to be a good marker for PAH in food, was 0.28 μg/kg in median, and the sum content of the 15+1 EU priority PAH was 0.64 μg/kg in median. The analysed smoked meat products showed an increasing presence of PAH in the following order: cooked ham (n = 17) < raw sausages (n = 25) < liver sausages (n = 25) < raw ham (n = 23) < Frankfurter-type sausages (n = 23). The correlation coefficient (R) between BaP and the sum of the 15+1 EU priority PAH was 0.90. To increase the safety of the consumer, a lowering of the BaP maximum level to 1 μg/kg is proposed and critical aspects using “PAH4” as a marker for PAH in food surveillance are discussed.