Effect of sous-vide heat treatment on the phthalic acid esters content in meat

Alžbeta Jarošová,Marcela Jandlová,Josef Kamení­K

doi:10.5219/1081

Abstract

The aim of the study was to monitor the migration of the phthalic acid esters dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) from packaging to meat wrapped in plastic when heat treated by sous-vide method. A heat treatment temperature of 80 °C was used for 4 and 8 hours with reheating at 80 °C for 1 hour. The average DBP and DEHP concentrations in meat ranged from 2.24 to 4.66 mg.kg-1 and 2.29 to 10.35 mg.kg-1 of the original sample, respectively. The average DBP and DEHP concentrations found in plastic packaging ranged from 3.06 to 6.37 µg.g-1 and 5.70 to 7.83 µg.g-1 of plastic, respectively. The average concentrations of DBP in water bath range from 16.25 to 23.38 µg.l-1, while the average concentrations of DEHP in water bath were determined between 0.24 and 1.82 µg.l-1. The above results were compared with the results measured at sous-vide treatment temperature of 70 °C for 4 hours, 8 hours, and with 1 hour of reheating. The average concentrations of DBP and DEHP in all meat samples exceeded the specific migration limits of both phthalates (0.3 mg.kg-1 for DBP and 1.5 mg.kg-1 for DEHP).

Highlights

Phthalic acid esters are persistent pollutants, which serve as plasticizers in the industry
The average concentration of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) (Table 1) was 2.30 ±0.60 and 6.17 ±2.91 mg.kg-1 respectively in meat samples heat treated at 70 °C per 4 hours, and 2.36 ±1.58 and 14.78 ±10.19 mg.kg-1 respectively when heat treated at 70 °C per 8 hours
The average concentration of DBP and DEHP was 2.89 ±1.94 and 6.95 ±2.95 mg.kg-1 respectively in meat samples heat treated at 70 °C per 4 hours + 70 °C per 1 hour and 3.14 ±0.90 and 5.04 ±2.18 mg.kg-1 respectively when heat treated at 70 °C per 8 hours + 70 °C per 1 hour

Summary

Introduction

Phthalic acid esters are persistent pollutants, which serve as plasticizers in the industry. The most common are two esters of phthalic acid dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) (Gao and Wen, 2016). Migration does depend on the type of contact material and on the composition of the food (pH, fat content, etc.) and the conditions of its processing and storing (time, temperature) (Bradley, Castle and Driffild, 2019). Phthalic acid esters, such as plasticizers, can migrate because they are not firmly bound chemically in plastics (Piotrowska, 2005). Many times exposed to heating, in the case of microwave heating of microwave dishes, released more phthalate plasticizers into food than dishes previously unused (Moreira, André and Cardeal, 2014)

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