Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in grilled foods from Kermanshah province

ABSTRACT

Grilling is one of the most traditional ways of cooking foods, especially meat, which can produce a number of carcinogenic compounds. This study was to identify the pattern of kebab consumption and its PAHs among a selection of the Iranian population. Kebab consumption pattern were assessed using a validated questionnaire. A sample of three types of popular kebabs, including Koobideh (minced meat), Barg (crushed meat pieces), and Juje (chopped chicken pieces), was collected from each restaurant and then transferred to a laboratory to measure PAHs. The median benzo[a]pyrene concentrations (7.85 μg/kg) and the sum of benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene, benzo[a]anthracene, and benzo[b]fluoranthene concentrations (15.74 μg/kg) were higher than the maximum level imposed by the Commission of the European Communities. A significant relationship between Barg kebab prepared with charcoal and the amounts of anthracene, benzo[a]anthracene, dibenzo[a,h]pyrene, and benzo[g,h,i]perylene was found. The highest PAHs produced in samples prepared with charcoal was dibenzo[a,h]pyrene.

KEYWORDS:

• Kebab
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
• cancer risk
• benzo[a]pyrene
• Iran
• charcoal
• consumption pattern
• grilling processes

Acknowledgments

We are grateful of all participants, assistants and funder in our research. The financial support was provided by Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences.