Food processing contaminants

Food processing contaminants may be formed during the preparation or preservation of food. For example, the process of smoking or frying will add contaminants such as the carcinogenic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) or heterocyclic amines (HA) to the food product and curing of food with nitrite forms nitrosamines.

Also, food preparation processes like browning and heating form chemical hazards, e.g. Maillard reaction products like acrylamide and furan. Furthermore, metal processing equipment, different polymer materials in the processing line, lubricating materials or smoke used for heating processes may also transfer contaminants to the food.

The research at the National Food Institute, Technical University if denmark within this focus area is important because a lot of theese food processing contaminants are carcinogenic or in other ways harmfull to human health.

Our research includes identification of new process contaminants and reveals correlations between food processing parameters and the levels of contaminants.

The research is used in scientific literature and in guidelines or recommendations for industrial-scale technology or home cooking.

The research include occurrence of processing contaminant and assessment of the human exposure or biomarker studies.

Collaboration

Danish Veterinary and Food Administration
Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Aarhus, Denmark
Danish Technological Institute, Division of Meat Research
The Catholic University of Santiago, Chile
Confederation of Danish Industries, the Food Industry
Danish Fishing and Seafood Industries