Process flavors from cooked meats

A comparison can be made between exposure to PHAs present naturally in foods and PHAs from process flavors. The PHAs that were identified as above the limit of detection (50 ppb) in process flavors were IQ and MelQx and were therefore used as representative samples of maximum levels of exposure to PHAs from process flavors. Table 3 summarizes the daily per capita intakes of IQ and MelQx from process flavors and from cooked meats. 

From Table 3 it can be seen that levels of PHAs from these food sources are extremely low and upon comparison, the PHA intake from process flavors is negligible compared to PHA intake from cooked meats. PHAs were found at trace levels slightly above the limit of detection (50 ppb) in only two out of 102 PF samples. Because process flavors are added to foods at low levels, this estimation of intake of PHAs from process flavors is a conservative estimate and tends to overestimate the potential exposure to PHAs from process flavors. 

Another processing procediue that could involve supercritical fluid extraction with CO2 is the preparation of flavor concentrates from meat lipids for use in mixtures of other natural precursors for the preparation of tynthetic meat flavor additives that serve bofii as antioxidants that prevent warmed-over flavor (WOF) in cooked meat diuing storage and enhance the flavor of the natural products. 

The available data indicate that the levels of intake of naturally occurring PHAs from foods, including cooked meats, are approximately 100,000-fold lower than doses used in animal studies in which PHAs demonstrated carcinogenic potential. Because the intake of PHAs from process flavors added to food is far lower than the intake of naturally occurring PHAs from foods, it is highly unlikely that the use of process flavors would pose a significant health risk to humans. 

In 1986, a review of the analysis of meat volatiles by Shahidi and colleagues (10) listed 995 compounds that have been found in meat. Mechanistic studies that have combined various amino acids and sugars have predicted the presence of even more compounds that have yet to be observed (77). The formation of flavor-producing compounds results from the complex interaction of numerous precursors and treatments. Some factors involved in beef flavor production are diet, postmortem aging, storage time and temperature, and cooking method. Additionally, it has recently been shown by Block et al. (72, 13) and others (74) that the method used to analyze flavor compounds may, in the process, create new flavor compounds. 

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