Determination of benzo[a]pyrene in Turkish doner kebab samples cooked with charcoal or gas fire

Abstract

In order to investigate the levels of the potent carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (B(a)P), 40 samples of doner kebab were analysed. The samples tested included 20 cooked using a charcoal fire and 20 cooked using a gas fire. A liquid chromatographic method was developed using a fluorescence detector. The mean levels of B(a)P were found to be 24.2 (s.e. 0.84) mu g/kg for charcoal fire cooked meat samples and 5.7 (s.e. 3.48 mu g/kg) for gas fire cooked meat samples. Sixteen samples were found to be over the maximum level recommended by FAO/WHO (10 mu g/kg) and all of the samples exceeded the maximum tolerance level of the Turkish Food Codex (1 mu g/kg).