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Mutagen formation during commercial processing of foods
Environmental Health Perspectives
|August 1, 1986
Summary
Commercial food processing, like canning, creates bacterial mutagens, especially in high-protein foods. Bisulfite treatment can inhibit this mutagen formation, with distinct mutagens found in salmon.
Area of Science:
- Food Science
- Toxicology
- Microbiology
Background:
- Commercial food processing, particularly thermal methods like canning, generates significant bacterial mutagenicity.
- Foods high in protein are particularly susceptible to mutagen formation during processing.
- Other processing methods such as pasteurization, dehydration, and concentration may also produce mutagenic substances.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential for various food processing operations to produce mutagenic substances.
- To examine the role of Maillard browning reactions in mutagen production.
- To characterize the mutagens formed during the thermal processing of fish.
Main Methods:
- Development of heated fish model systems (canned salmon, fried sole) using water extraction of mutagen precursors.
- Assessment of mutagenic activity using the Ames Salmonella assay.
- Evaluation of bisulfite treatment for mutagen inhibition.
- Isolation and partial characterization of mutagens using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) on various columns (C18, cyano, amino).
Main Results:
- Bacterial mutagenicity levels 3-17 times above spontaneous levels were observed during commercial thermal processing.
- Maillard type browning reactions were implicated in the production of mutagens.
- Bisulfite treatment effectively inhibited mutagen formation in both model systems and whole food products.
- At least three distinct mutagens were identified in fried and canned pink salmon, with unique HPLC profiles compared to mutagens in other cooked meats and fish.
Conclusions:
- Food processing conditions significantly influence the formation of bacterial mutagens.
- Maillard reactions and specific precursors play a role in mutagenesis during food heating.
- Bisulfite offers a potential method for mitigating mutagen formation in processed foods.
- The mutagens identified in salmon possess unique chemical characteristics differentiating them from those in other cooked animal products.
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