Regarding food borne intoxications, the accumulation of biogenic amines must be avoided in all kinds of food products. Moreover, biogenic amines can function as precursors for the formation of carcinogenic N-nitrosamines when nitrite is present. To estimate the food safety of the dry fermented sausages available on the Belgian market, a screening of the residual sodium nitrite and nitrate contents, biogenic amines and volatile N-nitrosamine concentrations was performed on 101 samples. The median concentrations of residual NaNO2 and NaNO3 were each individually lower than 20mg/kg. In general, the biogenic amine accumulation remained low at the end of shelf life. Only in one product the amounts of cadaverine and putrescine reached intoxicating levels. Concerning the occurrence of N-nitrosamines, only N-nitrosopiperidine and N-nitrosomorpholine were detected in a high number of samples (resp. 22% and 28%). No correlation between the presence of N-nitrosamines and the biogenic amines content was observed. Although the N-nitrosamines could not been linked to specific product categories, the occurrence of N-nitrosopiperidine could probably be attributed to the use of pepper.
Keywords: Biogenic amines; CAD; Dry fermented sausages; HIS; LOD; LOQ; MAOI; N-nitrosamines; N-nitrosodibutylamine; N-nitrosodiethylamine; N-nitrosodimethylamine; N-nitrosomorpholine; N-nitrosopiperidine; N-nitrospyrolidine; NDBA; NDEA; NDMA; NMOR; NPIP; NPYR; Nitrite; PUT; Retail; SPD; SPM; TEA; TYR; cadaverine; histamine; limit of detection; limit of quantitation; monoaminooxidase inhibitor; putrescine; spermidine; spermine; thermal energy analyzer; tyramine.
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