Aluminium Contents in Baked Meats Wrapped in Aluminium Foil

Abstract

In this investigation, the effect of cooking treatments (60 min at 150 °C, 40 min at 200 °C, and 20 min at 250 °C) on aluminium contents of meats (beef, water buffalo, mutton, chicken and turkey) baked in aluminium foil were evaluated. Cooking increased the aluminium concentration of both the white and red meats. The increase was 89-378% in red meats and 76-215% in poultry. The least increase (76-115%) was observed in the samples baked for 60 min at 150 °C, while the highest increase (153-378%) was in samples baked for 20 min at 250 °C. It was determined that the fat content of meat in addition to the cooking process affected the migration of aluminium (r2 = 0.83; P < 0.01). It was also found that raw chicken and turkey breast meat contained higher amounts of aluminium than the raw chicken and turkey leg meat, respectively. Regarding the suggested provisional tolerable daily intake of 1 mg Al/kg body weight per day of the FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives, there are no evident risks to the health of the consumer from using aluminium foil to cook meats. However, eating meals prepared in aluminium foil may carry a risk to the health by adding to other aluminium sources. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.