Heterocyclic amines in commercially available ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat foods in Chattogram, Bangladesh

Abstract

As part of survey of the heterocyclic amine (HCA) contents of available ready-to-cook (meat ball, sausage, bologna, chicken salami, and chicken-samusa) and ready-to-eat (shawrma, beef shikkabab, chicken chap, chicken tikka, fried chicken) foods were collected and were analyzed for heterocyclic amines PhIP (2-Amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo [4,5-b]pyridine) using Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography.  Results indicated the detectable PhIP in ready to eat samples but not in the ready to cook samples. The highest PhIP concentration was registered in fried chicken (88.3 ng/g), followed by chicken tikka (71.44 ng/g), shawrma (45.52 ng/g), chicken chap (35.17 ng/g) and beef shikkabab (0.16 ng/g). The amounts of heterocyclic amines measured in these ready-to-eat foods revealed that samples prepared for laboratory studies are representative of commonly consumed restaurant samples might pose health hazard and demands further attention.