Determination and health risk assessment of acrylamide levels in instant coffee products available in Tehran markets by GC-MS

ABSTRACT

This study aimed primarily to evaluate acrylamide (AA) concentration using rapid, simplified, cost-effective liquid-liquid extraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in the most common instant coffee products, and secondly, to calculate the health risk assessment of AA for adults and children. The acrylamide level was quantified using gas chromatography coupled with the mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The estimated daily intake (EDI), hazard quotient (HQ), and margin of exposure(MOE) was also calculated. According to the results, acrylamide levels in instant coffee were obtained between 0.5 to 440.9 μg/kg. The concentrations of acrylamide detected in all samples were below the recommended benchmark levels by the European Commission (<850 µg/kg). The overall mean was calculated 137.3 ± 25.7 for coffee mix powder samples and 154.8 ± 39.7 for pure powder samples. There was no significant difference in AA concentration between pure powder and coffee mix groups (P > 0.05). However, a significant difference in AA content was observed in different brands of pure powder as well as some groups of the coffee mix (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the health risk due to consumption of various type of coffee is negligible.

KEYWORDS:

• Coffee
• acrylamide
• GC-MS
• food safety
• risk assessment

Acknowledgment

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support given by the Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (Ethics Code: IR.TUMS.SPH.REC.1399.139).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).