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The exposure to selected chemical contaminants from fish has been calculated for the Danish population, both for adults (15–75 years of age) and children (4–14 years of age). The Danish mean consumption of fish is 21 g person−1 day−1 for adults and 12 g person−1 day−1 for children. Fish consumption is the main food group contributor for exposure to mercury and dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCDD/F and DL-PCB) for the Danish population. Comparison of the mean exposure with the TDI or TWI values shows for these substances as well as for perfluorooctane sulphuric acid (PFOS) that the exposure is below the TDI/TWI values. However, even without taking other food groups into account, PCDD/Fs and DL-PCB exposure is close to the actual TWI-value. Calculation of the Margin of Exposure (MOE) for the sum of hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDD) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) revealed fish consumption to be of low concern for the consumer health regarding these contaminants.

Mitigation of contaminants in industrial processing was studied for prawns (cooked and peeled), Greenland halibut (cold smoked) and Atlantic salmon (cold smoked and trimmed). Raw prawns had significantly higher cadmium, chromium, iron, selenium and zinc content in autumn than in spring, while summer levels typically were intermediate. Peeling raw prawns increased mercury concentration but reduced the concentration of all other elements including inorganic arsenic, total arsenic, chromium, zinc, selenium but especially cadmium, copper and iron (p < 0.05), however interaction between seasons and processing was observed.Non-toxic organic arsenic in raw Greenland halibut (N = 10) and salmon (N = 4) did not transform to carcinogenic inorganic arsenic during industrial cold smoking. Hence inorganic arsenic was low (

Aquaculture production is demanding novel feed ingredients that reflect natural marine nutrient levels, that are also essential to humans. In this regard, biofortification through addition of iodine-rich sugar kelp in feed formulations was assessed in a 12 week rainbow trout trial. Yttrium inclusion in feed allowed determinations of apparent absorption coefficients of essential and potentially toxic elements and apparent digestibility coefficient of nutrients. E.g. apparent absorption coefficients in trouts fortified feed with 1–4% dw kelp were 67–61% As, 32–40% Cd

Acrylamide (AA) is a process-contaminant that potentially increases the risk of developing cancer in humans. AA is formed during heat treatment of starchy foods and detected in a wide range of commonly consumed products. Increased focus on risk ranking and prioritization of major causes of disease makes it relevant to estimate the impact that exposure to chemical contaminants and other hazards in food have on health. In this study, we estimated the burden of disease (BoD) caused by dietary exposure to AA, using disability adjusted life years (DALY) as health metric. We applied an exposure-based approach and proposed a model of three components: an exposure, health-outcome, and DALY-module. We estimated BoD using two approaches for estimating cancer risk based on toxicological data and two approaches for estimating DALY. In Denmark, 1.8 healthy life years per 100.000 inhabitants are lost each year due to exposure to AA through foods, as estimated by the most conservative approach. This result should be used to inform risk management decisions and for comparison with BoD of other food-borne hazards for prioritizing policies. However, our study shows that careful evaluation of methodological choices and assumptions used in BoD studies is necessary before use in policy making.

Literature on formation and mitigation of N-nitrosamine (NA) and especially non-volatile NA (NVNA) in meat products is scarce and the present study is therefore a relevant contribution to the field. We found positive correlation between the levels of N-nitrosopiperidine (NPIP), N-nitrosohydroxyproline (NHPRO), N-nitrosoproline (NPRO), N-nitrosothiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (NTCA) and N-nitroso-2-methyl-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (NMTCA) and the amount of nitrite added to cooked pork sausages. The levels studied were 0, 60, 100, 150, 250 and 350mgkg−1. The levels of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and N-nitrosopyrrolidine (NPYR) remained at or below limit of quantification. Erythorbic acid inhibited the formation of NHPRO, NPRO, NPIP and NTCA. This inhibition was for NTCA and NMTCA counteracted by addition of free iron. Ascorbyl palmitate had less inhibitory effect than erythorbic acid and a combination of the two provided no further protection. Increasing the black pepper content increased the levels of NPIP and NMTCA. Only slight effects of increased fat content and addition of tripolyphosphate were observed.

Heating foods immersed in oil during frying provides many attractive sensorial attributes including taste, flavor and color. However, some toxic compounds formed during frying of potatoes such as furan and acrylamide may constitute an increased cancer risk for consumers. The objective of this work was to mitigate the furan and acrylamide formation in potato chips without increasing their oil uptake by optimizing the blanching treatment before final frying. Potato slices were blanched in order to simultaneously leach out ascorbic acid and reducing sugars, the most important precursors of furan and acrylamide generation in thermally treated starchy foods. A central composite design was implemented to optimize the temperature-time blanching conditions under which furan, acrylamide and oil content in potato chips were minimized. The optimum blanching conditions were 64 °C and 17 min in which significant reductions of furan, acrylamide and oil content (91%, 54% and 19% respectively) were reached.

Chilean consumer preferences include foods that may contain considerable amounts of furan, a potential human carcinogen. However, there is no information regarding dietary exposure to furan in Chile. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine the Chilean exposure to dietary furan. To accomplish this objective, the furan concentration of 14 types of commercial foods processed at high temperature were analysed based on a modified headspace-GC/MS (HS-GC/MS) method in which the limits of detection for different food matrices ranged from 0.01 to 0.6 ng g(-1). In addition, a risk assessment was made with exposure estimates based on dietary data from national studies on different age groups (9-month-old babies, school children, adults and elderly people). Of the food items surveyed "American"-type coffee (espresso coffee plus hot water) obtained from automatic coffee machine (936 ng g(-1)) and low moisture starchy products like crisps and "soda"-type crackers showed the highest furan concentrations (259 and 91 ng g(-1), respectively). Furthermore, furan was also found in samples of breakfast cereals (approximately 20 ng g(-1)), jarred fruit baby foods (8.5 ng g(-1)) and orange juice (7.0 ng g(-1)). School children (aged 9-13 years) represented the highest intake of furan (about 500 ng kg(-1)(bw) day(-1)), with margins of exposure of 2479 and 2411, respectively, which points to a possible public health risk.

Furan, a potential carcinogen, has been detected in highly consumed starchy foods, such as bread and snacks; however, research on furan generation in these food matrixes has not been undertaken, thus far. The present study explored the effect of ascorbic acid addition and cooking methods (frying and baking) over furan occurrence and its relation with the non-enzymatic browning in a wheat flour starchy food model system. Results showed that furan generation significantly increased in the presence of ascorbic acid after 7 min of heating (p < 0.05). The strongest effect was observed for baked products. Additionally, the furan content in fried products increased with the increase of the oil uptake levels. As for Maillard reactions, in general, the furan level in all samples linearly correlated with their degree of non-enzymatic browning, represented by L* and a* color parameters (e.g., wheat flour baked samples showed a R(2) of 0.88 and 0.87 for L* and a*, respectively), when the sample moisture content decreased during heating.

In this research acrylamide reduction in potato chips was investigated in relation to blanching and asparaginase immersion treatments before final frying. Potatoes slices (Verdi variety, diameter: 40 mm, thickness: 2.0 mm) were fried at 170 °C for 5 min (final moisture content of ∼2.0 g/100 g). Prior to frying, potato slices were treated in one of the following ways: (i) Rinsing in distilled water (control I); (ii) Rinsing in distilled water plus blanching in hot water at 85 °C for 3.5 min; (iii) Rinsing in distilled water plus immersion in an asparaginase solution (10000 ASNU/L) at 50 °C for 20 min; (iv) Rinsing in distilled water plus blanching in hot water at 85 °C for 3.5 min plus immersion in an asparaginase solution (10000 ASNU/L) at 50 °C for 20 min; (v) Rinsing in distilled water plus blanching in hot water at 85 °C for 3.5 min plus immersion in distilled water at 50 °C for 20 min (control II). Blanching in hot water (ii) was almost as effective as asparaginase potato immersion (iii) in order to diminish acrylamide formation in potato chips (acrylamide reduction was ∼17% of the initial acrylamide concentration). When potato slices were blanched before asparaginase immersion, the acrylamide content of the resultant potato chips was reduced considerably by almost 90%. We have demonstrated that blanching of potato slices plus asparaginase treatment is an effective combination for acrylamide mitigation during frying. It seems to be that blanching provokes changes in the microstructure of potato tissue leading to an easier and more effective diffusion of asparaginase.

Levels of organochlorine substances, including a number of organochlorine pesticides and PCB, are monitored in food, including meat, fish and dairy products. The substances are slowly degradable and therefore persist for long periods in the environment, where they accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals and humans. They are included, because of the potential health-hazardous effect of these compounds on humans. The highest average contents are found in cod liver and fatty fish. The Danish population’s average daily intake has been estimated at between 0.03 and 0.3 μg/day for organochlorine pesticides and 0.9 μg/day for the indicator PCB-sum. People with a relatively high intake of these substances (the 95th percentile) are estimated to consume approximately twice as much. In general, the highest contributions to the intake of the organochlorine environmental contaminants are from fish, meat and dairy products. However, children have a relatively higher intake from milk and milk products and a lower intake from fish compared to adults.

In this study, we explore the identity of a range of polyfluorinated surfactants (PFS) used for food contact materials, primarily to impart oil and water repellency on paper and board. PFS are of interest, as they can be precursors of poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), of which several are persistent and are found worldwide in human blood and in the environment. To determine the elemental composition of PFS, we combined information from patents, chemical suppliers and analyses of industrial blends using ultra performance liquid chromatography-negative electrospray ionisation quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. At a high pH of 9.7, both non-ionic and anionic PFS were ionised and were recognised by negative mass defects of exact masses, and neutral fragment losses of n × 20 or n × 100 Da. More than 115 molecular structures were found in industrial blends from the EU, US and China, belonging to the groups of polyfluoroalkyl-mono- and di-ester phosphates (monoPAPS, diPAPS and S-diPAPS), -ethoxylates, -acrylates, -amino acids, -sulfonamide phosphates and -thio acids, together with residuals and synthesis byproducts. In addition, a number of starting materials such as perfluorooctane sulfonamide N-alkyl esters were analysed. Di- and trialkylated PAPS and S-diPAPS were found in migrates from European food contact materials. This study highlights the need to monitor for more types of PFS in order to map the sources of PFAS in humans and the environment.

In April 2002, Swedish researchers shocked the world when they presented preliminary findings on the presence of acrylamide in fried and baked foods, most notably potato chips and French fries, at levels of 30–2,300 ppb. The objective of this research was to study the effect of immersing potato slices in a NaCl solution over the acrylamide formation in the resultant potato chips. Potato slices (Verdi variety, diameter 40 mm, width 2.0 mm) were fried at 170 °C for 5 min (final moisture content of ∼2.0%). Prior to frying, the potato slices were treated in one of the following ways: (1) control slices (unblanched or raw potato slices); (2) slices blanched at 90 °C for 5 min in water; (3) slices blanched at 90 °C for 5 min plus immersed in a 1 g/100 g NaCl solution at 25 °C for 5 min; (4) slices blanched at 90 °C for 5 min plus immersed in a 3 g/100 g NaCl solution at 25 °C for 5 min; (5) slices blanched at 90 °C for 5 min plus immersed in distilled water at 25 °C for 5 min; and (6) slices blanched at 90 °C for 5 min in a 3 g/100 g NaCl solution. Blanching followed by the immersion of potato slices in 1 g/100 g NaCl solution was effective in reducing acrylamide content in ∼62%; however, almost half of this percentage (∼27%) could be attributed to the effect of NaCl and 35% to the effect of the slight heating treatment during salt immersion step (25 °C for 5 min). Blanching seems to make the NaCl diffusion in potato tissue easier leading to a significant acrylamide reduction in the potato slices after frying.

Data from an industrial case study of breakfast cereal production indicated that the generated amounts of acrylamide are greatly dependent upon the combined effects of temperature and heating time in a roasting step process. Two approaches to obtain process models for acrylamide generation were tested. The first applied a pathway-based model. The second developed a simpler more robust model based on the integrated effects of time and temperature, where the generation of acrylamide was crudely fitted to an exponentially rising function. The development of the two models highlighted a number of difficulties in applying multi-parameter models and emphasized the advantages of “classical” approaches to process modelling, especially for use in an industrial context. The study faced with a significant degree of variability in the data, due to fluctuations in the process, which also emphasized the importance of robustness in the developed models. The correlations obtained for predicting acrylamide generation in the case study present a useful tool for food processing industry to minimize acrylamide generation. In the present case it was possible by lowering process temperature and prolonging residence time to achieve an approximately 80% reduction in acrylamide content while maintaining the desired product quality.

Acrylamide formation in French fries was investigated in relation to blanching and asparaginase soaking treatments before final frying. Par-fried potatoes of Bintje variety were prepared by cutting strips (0.8×0.8×5cm) which were blanched at 75°C for 10min. Unblanched strips were used as the control. Control or blanched strips were then dried at 85°C for 10min and immediately partially fried at 175°C for 1min. Finally, frozen par-fried potatoes were fried at 175°C for 3min to obtain French fries. Pre-drying of raw or blanched potato strips did not generate acrylamide formation as expected. Partial frying of pre-dried control potato strips generated 370μg/kg of acrylamide and the final frying determined French fries with 2075μg/kg of acrylamide. When control potato strips were treated with a 10000 ASNU/l asparaginase solution at 40°C for 20min, the acrylamide formation in French fries was reduced by 30%. When blanched potato strips were treated in the same way, the produced French fries have 60% less acrylamide content than blanched strips without the enzyme treatment. Soaking of blanched potato strips (75°C, 10min) in an 10000 ASNU/l asparaginase solution at 40°C for 20min is an effective way to reduce acrylamide formation after frying by reducing the amount of one of its important precursors such as asparagine.

The objective of this work was to study the kinetics of color development in blanched and blanched-NaCl impregnated potato slices during frying by using the dynamic method and also to evaluate the effect of NaCl in reducing acrylamide formation in potato chips. The measurement of color was done by using an inexpensive computer vision technique which allowed quantifying in a more precise and representative way the color in L ∗ a ∗ b ∗ units of complex surfaces such as those of potato slices during frying. The effect of potato slice soaking in NaCl was evaluated not only for color change but also for acrylamide formation. Prior to frying, potato slices (Desiree variety, diameter: 37 mm, width: 2.2 mm) were blanched in hot water at 85 °C for 3.5 min; these slices were considered as the control. Slices of the same dimensions were blanched as in the previous step, and soaked at 25 °C in a NaCl solution of 0.02 g/l 5 min at 200 rpm of agitation. These samples were considered as NaCl soaked potato chips. Blanched and soaked slices were fried at 120, 140, 160 and 180 °C until reaching moisture contents of ∼1.8% (total basis) for color evaluation. Acrylamide content was evaluated only in final samples fried from 120 °C to 160 °C. Color values in L ∗ a ∗ b ∗ units were recorded at different sampling times during frying at the four mentioned temperatures using the total color change parameter (Δ E ). Experimental data of surface temperature, moisture content and color change in potato chips during frying were fitted to empirical relationships, with correlation coefficients greater than 90%. A first-order rate equation was used to model the kinetics of color change. In all cases, the Arrhenius activation energy decreases alongside with decreasing chip moisture content. Soaking in NaCl solution of potato slices before frying reduced dramatically acrylamide formation in potato chips in ∼90% (average value) in comparison with control chips.

Acrylamide formation in French fries was investigated in relation under different processing conditions and the content of glucose and asparagine of the strips before frying. Potato strips (0.8 × 0.8 × 5 cm) of Bintje variety were fried at 150, 170 and 190 °C until reaching moisture contents of ∼40 g water/100 g (total basis). Prior to frying, potato strips were treated in one of the following ways: (i) immersed in distilled water for 0 min (control), 60 min and 120 min; (ii) immersed in a citric acid solution of 10 g/L for an hour; (iii) immersed in a sodium pyrophosphate solution of 10 g/L for an hour; (iii) blanched in hot water at six different time-temperature combinations (50 °C for 40 and 80 min; 70 °C for 10 and 45 min; 90 °C for 3 and 10 min). Acrylamide content was determined in French fries while the glucose and asparagine content in the potato strips before frying. Immersed strips in water for 120 min showed a reduction of acrylamide formation of 33%, 21% and 27% at 150, 170 and 190 °C, respectively, when they were compared against the control. Potato strips blanched at 50 °C for 80 min had the lowest acrylamide content when compared against strips blanched at different conditions and fried at the same temperature (135, 327 and 564 μm acrylamide/kg for 150, 170 and 190 °C, respectively). Potato strip immersion in citric acid solution of 10 g/L reduced much more the acrylamide formation after frying than the strip immersion in sodium pyrophosphate solution of 10 g/L (53% vs. 17%, respectively—average values for the three temperatures tested). Acrylamide formation decreased dramatically as the frying temperature decreased from 190 to 150 °C for all the pre-treatments tested. Color represented by the total color difference showed high correlation ( r 2 of 0.854) with the acrylamide content of French fries.

A LC–MS–MS method for simultaneous determination of acrylamide, asparagine, fructose, glucose and sucrose in bread was developed. The method is based on aqueous extraction by blending. After centrifugation the samples were cleaned up by solid phase extraction on C18 cartridges conditioned with 2 mL of methanol and 2× 2 mL of water and subsequently flushed with sample solution before the actual analytical sample fractions were collected. Analytes were separated on a Hypercarb column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 μm) and detected by tandem MS with electrospray ionisation. Acrylamide and saccharides were ionised in positive mode. Asparagine in wheat bread was detectable at lower levels using negative ion mode. To compensate for matrix induced signal suppression D3-acrylamide and 15N2-asparagine were used as internal standards for acrylamide and asparagine, respectively. Recoveries were in the range 93–112% for acrylamide spiked at 30, 250 μg kg−1 and 97–101% for asparagine spiked at 70, 140 mg kg−1. Sorbitol was used as internal standard for fructose and glucose. Samples were diluted to obtain acceptable recoveries in saccharide analyses. LODs were 13 μg kg−1 for acrylamide and 2 mg kg−1 for asparagine in wheat bread.

Acrylamide formation and changes in color of fried potato strips was investigated in relation to frying temperature and three treatments before frying. Potato strips (0.8 × 0.8 × 5 cm) of Bintje variety were fried at 150, 170 and 190 °C until reaching moisture contents of ∼40 g water/100 g (total basis). Prior to frying, potato strips were treated in one of the following ways: (i) immersed in distilled water for 0 min (control), 60 min and 120 min; (ii) blanched in hot water at six different time–temperature combinations (50 °C for 40 and 80 min; 70 °C for 10 and 45 min; 90 °C for 3 and 10 min); (iii) immersed in a citric acid solution of 10 g/L for an hour; (iv) immersed in a sodium pyrophosphate solution of 10 g/L for an hour. Acrylamide content and color was determined in the potato strips after frying. Immersed strips in water for 120 min showed a reduction of acrylamide formation of 33%, 21% and 27% at 150, 170 and 190 °C, respectively, when they were compared against the control. Potato strips blanched at 50 °C for 80 min had the lowest acrylamide content when compared against strips blanched at different conditions and fried at the same temperature (135, 327 and 564 μm acrylamide/kg for 150, 170 and 190 °C, respectively). Potato strip immersion in citric acid solution of 10 g/L reduced much more the acrylamide formation after frying than the strip immersion in sodium pyrophosphate solution of 10 g/L (53% vs. 17%, respectively, average values for the three temperatures tested). Acrylamide formation decreased dramatically as the frying temperature decreased from 190 to 150 °C for all the pre-treatments tested. Color represented by the parameters L * and a* showed high correlations ( r 2 of 0.79 and 0.83, respectively) with French fry acrylamide content.

A method for analysing carbamates and other relatively polar pesticides by LC–MS–MS with electrospray ionisation has been developed. The method is based on extraction by ultrasonication using a methanolic ammonium acetate–acetic acid buffer. After centrifugation the samples are filtered in Miniprep filter HPLC vials and detected by LC–MS–MS. To compensate for variations in the MS response [ 13 C 6 ]-carbaryl was used as internal standard and matrix-matched pesticide solutions were used as external standards for the quantification. The method has been validated for the matrices apple, avocado, carrot, lettuce, orange, potato and wheat at the spiking levels—0.02; 0.04 and 0.20 mg kg−1. Recoveries were generally in the range 70–120%. Results from participation in three intercomparisons proved the accuracy of the method. As the analytical procedure does not include any concentration or cleanup steps, it is easy and fast to perform, making it applicable for routine analysis in large pesticide monitoring programmes.

An analytical method for analysing acrylamide in coffee was validated. The analysis of prepared coffee includes a comprehensive clean-up using multimode solid-phase extraction (SPE) by automatic SPE equipment and detection by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry using electrospray in the positive mode. The recoveries of acrylamide in ready-to-drink coffee spiked with 5 and 10 μg l−1 were 96±14% and 100±8%, respectively. Within laboratory reproducibility for the same spiking levels were 14% and 9%, respectively. Coffee samples (n = 25) prepared twice by coffee machines and twice by a French Press Cafetiere coffee maker contained 8±3 μg l−1 and 9±3 μg l−1 acrylamide. Five ready-to-drink instant coffee prepared twice contained 8±2 μg l−1. Hence, the results do not show significant differences in the acrylamide contents in ready-to-drink coffee prepared by coffee machine, French Press or from instant coffee. Medium roasted coffee contained more acrylamide (∼10 μg l−1) than dark roasted coffee (∼5 μg l−1). Males aged 35–45 years, drinking on average 1.1 l coffee per day are exposed to the highest doses of acrylamide from coffee. The dietary intake of acrylamide from coffee comprises, on an average, 10 μg day−1 for males and 9 μg day−1 for females aged 35–45 years. Probabilistic modelling of the exposure of Danish consumers (all adults) to acrylamide from coffee shows a mean exposure of 6.5 μg day−1 and a 95 percentile of 18 μg day−1.

A fast and specific method for the determination of glyphosate in cereals is described. The method is based on extraction with water by ultrasonication. The samples are cleaned up and separated by high-performance liquid chromatography on a polystyrene-based reverse-phase column (clean-up) in series with an ion chromatography column (separation) using NaHCO3 as eluent. A micro-membrane suppressor was inserted after the separator column to remove the Na þ ions before detection by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry in the negative-ion mode. In MS/MS, mode the following transitions were monitored m/z 168 ! 150 (glyphosate) and 170 ! 152 (internal standard 2- 13 C 15 N-glyphosate) for quantification. The mean recovery was 85% (n ¼ 32) at spiking levels from 0.03 to 0.33 mg kg � 1 . From 1998 to 2001, from the analysis of about 50 samples per annum, a reduction in the glyphosate residues was observed owing to a Danish trade decision not to use grain with glyphosate residues for milling or bread production.

An HPLC-MS/MS method for the analysis of three pesticides in strawberries was developed and validated. Recoveries were measured at three spiking levels and ranged from 85 to 99% (mean recoveries). The effects of processing of strawberries ranging from rinsing to jam production were investigated for the three fungicides tolylfluanid, fenhexamid and pyrimethanil, which were applied under field conditions. Kresoxim-methyl was also applied in the field, but was not found in any of the samples investigated. The effect of parameters such as preharvest interval, dose, harvest time and observed pesticide concentration after harvest (initial concentration, mg kg(-1)), were examined with respect to possible reduction of the pesticides. The results from rinsing showed that all three pesticides were reduced on average by 37% for tolylfluanid, by 34% for fenhexamid and by 19% for pyrimethanil. For tolylfluanid and fenhexamid, the initial concentration significantly affected the reduction. For fenhexamid, dose could also have a minor influence on reduction. For pyrimethanil, none of the parameters significantly influenced the reduction. For jam production, cooking significantly reduced tolylfluanid by an average of 91%. For fenhexamid and pyrimethanil, a smaller reduction was seen, 25% and 33%, respectively. The reduction of tolylfluanid and pyrimethanil was affected by the preharvest interval, while fenhexamid was affected by the initial concentration. The unit-to-unit variability of fungicide contents was also investigated and the variability factors for the three fungicides were from 1.9 to 2.8.

With aim to provide information on chemical contaminants in byproducts in animal feed, the data from an official control by the Danish Plant Directorate during 1998-2009, were reviewed and several samples of citrus pulp and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) were additionally collected for analysis and risk assessment. The levels of contaminants in the samples from the official control were below maximum limits from EU regulations with only a few exceptions in the following groups; dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) in fish-containing byproducts and dioxins in vegetable and animal fat, hydrogen cyanide in linseed, and cadmium in sunflowers. The levels of pesticides and mycotoxins in the additionally collected samples were below maximum limits. Enniatin B (ENN B) was present in all DDGS samples. The hypothetical cases of carry-over of contamination from these byproducts were designed assuming total absorption and accumulation of the ingested contaminant in meat and milk and high exposure (a byproduct formed 15-20% of the feed ration depending on the species). The risk assessment was refined based on literature data on metabolism in relevant animal species. Risk assessment of contaminants in byproducts is generally based on a worst-case approach, as data on carry-over of a contaminant are sparse. This may lead to erroneous estimation of health hazards. The presence of ENN B in all samples of DDGS indicates that potential impact of this emerging mycotoxin on feed and food safety deserves attention. A challenge for the future is to fill up gaps in toxicological databases and improve models for carry-over of contaminants.

Atmospheric day and night concentrations of particulate organic nitrates (PON) and several other air pollutants were measured in the summer 1995 over an open-land area in Denmark. The sampling of PON was evaluated comparing 24 h samples with two sets of 12 h samples. These results indicate that the observed low contribution of PON to NOy is real and not the result of an extensive loss during the sampling. Empirical relationships between the vapour pressure and chemical formula of organic compounds were established in order to evaluate the gas/particle distribution of organic nitrates. A positive correlation between the PON to NOz ratio and the inverse temperature may indicate that the organic nitrates associated with particles also may be present in the gas phase. The observed day and nighttime levels of PON were of the same magnitude, although the day to night ratio varied from 0.4 to 4.4.

The pollution loads by hydrocarbons and some organochlorines have been investigated in common mussels (Mytilus edulis L.) from the Inner Danish Waters. The ranges of pollutant concentrations were 7.5–108 μg g−1 wet wt for paraffin-naphthene(p-n-)-hydrocarbons, 10–111 ng g−1 wet wt (Σ14 PAH) for polyaromatic hydrocarbons, 3–328 ng g−1 wet wt (Σ7 chlorobiphenyl) for polychlorinated biphenyls, 2.4–67 ng g−1 wet wt for ΣDDT, 0.3-3.1 ng g−1 wet wt for α-HCH, 0.6–7.4 ng g−1 wet wt for γ-HCH and 0.05-0.74 ng g−1 wet wt for HCB. An interpretation of the physiological parameter, the condition index (measured as the ratio of dry weight of soft tissue to (shell length)3 and ‘normalized’ with respect to shell length) in relation to the lipid content showed a good correlation (r = 0.76, p = 0.0001). The condition index showed a significant negative correlation with the polyaromatic hydrocarbons (Σ14 PAH, r = −0.48, p = 0.01) and a weaker negative correlation with the p-n-hydrocarbons (r = −0.36, p = 0.08).

A new method for the analysis of 25 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds in fish was developed, validated, and used for the quantification of PAHs in 180 industrially smoked fish products. The method included pressurized liquid extraction, gel-permeation chromatography (Bio-beads S-X3), solid-phase extraction (silica gel), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The sum concentration of 25 PAHs ([summation operator]PAH(25)) was highest in smoked herring (n = 3) and mackerel fillets (n = 13), with an average concentration of 320 and 235 microg kg(-1), respectively. Lowest average [summation operator]PAH(25) concentrations were obtained for indirectly smoked trout (26 microg kg(-1)). Principal component analysis was used to correlate processing parameters to PAH concentrations and to identify the effects of these parameters. The analysis showed that for salmon hot-smoking conditions lead to higher SigmaPAH(25) than cold smoking, and for other fish species direct smoking leads to higher SigmaPAH(25) than indirect smoking. Also, the usage of common alder increases the PAH contamination compared with beech. The effects of smoking time, combustion temperatures, and two types of smoke-generating material on the [summation operator]PAH(25) were also tested in a pilot plant study with smoked trout as a model fish. In addition to confirming that increased combustion temperatures and usage of common alder in comparison with beech increased [summation operator]PAH(25), it was also revealed that the PAH concentration decreased in the order fish skin >> outer layer of the fish muscle > inner part of the fish muscle.

Concentrations of organochlorines in the blubber of 27 harbour porpoises ( Phocoena phocoena ) collected from 1986 to 1988 in Danish North Sea and Baltic waters and two harbour porpoises collected in 1988 in West Greenland are reported. Comparisons with previous Danish findings reveal a lower contamination level than in the 1970s and early 1980s. The contamination level of two adult West Greenland animals was markedly lower than in Danish animals.

Acrylamide in baked and toasted wheat and rye bread was studied in relation to levels of asparagine in flour, dough, bread and toasts. Asparagine was consumed during bread preparation resulting in reduced acrylamide content in the products. In wheat bread, 12% of the asparagine initially present in the flour (0.14 g kg(-1)) remained after yeast fermentation and baking; for rye bread, 82% of asparagine remained after sourdough fermentation and baking. Asparagine present in untoasted wheat bread had totally reacted after hard toasting. Toasted wheat and rye bread slices contained 11-161 and 27-205 microg kg(-1) acrylamide, respectively, compared to untoasted wheat and rye bread with

An intercomparison study of the determinations of glyphosate, chlormequat and mepiquat residues in cereals was performed. Four samples comprising one blank, two incurred and one spiked sample were sent to six participating laboratories. For glyphosate, two laboratories reported considerably lower results than the other four. One of the two laboratories with low results also reported low recoveries. The results of a sample spiked with 0.80 mg kg-1 glyphosate and an incurred sample, ranged from 0.23-0.87 mg kg-1 and 0.11-0.25 mg kg-1 respectively. The strong correlation between the two samples (r2 = 0.95) indicates a systematic between-laboratory variation. Several different principles were used for the analysis of glyphosate using different clean-up techniques and GC/MS, HPLC-fluorescence or LC/MS for detection. The results of the chlormequat residues showed more consistency. All but one laboratory obtained comparable results. However the correlation between the results for the sample spiked with 0.38 mg kg-1 (range: 0.26-0.65 mg kg-1) and the incurred samples (range: 0.19-0.45 and 0.15-0.23 mg kg-1, respectively) again showed a strong correlation (r2 = 0.99 and 0.88) indicating a systematic component. For mepiquat, results above the limit of quantification were only reported for the spiked sample. The results ranged from 0.29-0.92 mg kg-1 (spiked concentration = 0.38 mg kg-1). Three laboratories had results that deviated less than 25% from the fortified concentration. Two laboratories reported results 38% and 141% above the fortified concentration, respectively.

Strobilurins are a new class of fungicides that are active against a broad spectrum of fungi. In the present work a GC method for analysis of strobilurin fungicides was validated. The method was based on, extraction with ethyl acetate/cyclohexane, clean-up by gel permeation chromatography, (GPC) and determination of the content by gas chromatography (GC) with electron capture (EC-), nitrogen/phosphorous (NP-), and mass spectrometric (MS-) detection. Three strobilurins, azoxystrobin, kresoxim-methyl and trifloxystrobin were validated on three matrices, wheat, apple and grapes. The validation was based on recovery tests at three or four spiking levels, determined as double determinations and repeated three times (n = 6). The mean recoveries for the three detectors were in the range of 70-114%, and the LODs were between 0.004 mg/kg and 0.014 mg/kg, for all three strobilurins. The values for repeatability and reproducibility were within the limits for repeatability and reproducibility given by the Horwitz equation. Validation was not accepted for azoxystrobin in grapes on all three detectors and for azoxystrobin in apple for the MS-detector. A comparison of matrix-matched standards versus standards in solvent showed varying differences between the two calibration curves.

The presence of furan in a broad range of heat processed foods (0-6000 μg kg(-1)) has received considerable attention due to the fact that this heat induced contaminant is considered as a "possible carcinogenic compound to humans". Since a genotoxic mode of action could be associated with furan-induced tumor formation, current human exposure levels to this contaminant may indicate a risk to human health and the necessity for its mitigation. This review summarizes and focuses on the main issues of furan toxicity, human dietary exposure to furan and mechanisms of furan formation. Additionally, the role of some critical factors such as heating conditions, pH and matrix microstructure are discussed in order to propose some potential methodologies for furan mitigation in a wide range of heated foods.