PAH in Barbecued Meat from Restaurants and by Home-Grilling in Denmark

Barbecuing or grilling is known to result in the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Thirty home-grilled meat samples (beef, pork and chicken) and 86 commercial grilled meat samples (beef, pork, chicken, salmon, lamb and calf) were analyzed for 23 PAH including PAH 4 (benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), benzo[a]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and chrysene).

PAHs were extracted by Pressurized Liquid Extraction followed by clean-up by GPC (Bio Beads, S-X3) and SPE (500mg, Silica) and finally analyzed by GC-MS. Home-grilled beef were found to contain highest concentrations of BaP (up to 24 µg/kg) whereas commercially barbecued hamburgers were found to contain BaP up to 13.7 µg/kg.

Chicken was found to contain the lowest BaP concentrations (0-0.1µg/kg). The highest concentration of BaP for chicken was 3.1 µg/kg detected in a commercially barbecued marinated chicken with skin. The sum of PAH 4 ranged from below the detection limit to the highest concentration for a home-grilled beef (64 µg/kg).

Worst case estimates revealed a margin of exposure (MOE) of approximately 18,000 for both BaP and the sum of PAH 4 for grilled meat only. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has previously recommended that care should be taken due to high risk by intake for MOE < 10,000.