Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and potentially toxic metals in commonly consumed beef sausage roll products in Nigeria

Levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and potentially toxic metals (PTMs) were determined in the commonly consumed beef sausage roll products (coded BS1 – BS6) in Nigeria. This was done in order to assess the safety of regular consumption of these products with respect to the substances determined. Three batches of six samples of beef sausage roll products were collected from Ile-Ife, Osun sate, Nigeria. A part of the pretreated sample was Soxhlet extracted using n-hexane and analyzed with Gas Chromatography coupled with Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) to identify and quantify each of the PAHs in the sample, while Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) was used to profile the concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cu, Pd, Mn and Zn in the digested sausage roll samples. Levels of PAHs in the samples ranged from 1.84 μg/g of Acenaphthylene in BS5 to 282.83 μg/g of Benzo[k]fluoranthene in BS1. Concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene in all the samples were higher than the guideline value of 0.003 mg/kg/day. For PTMs, a range of 0.075 μg/g As in both BS1 and BS6 to 2.950 μg/g Cu in BS3 was obtained. The study concluded that both PAHs and PTMs occurred in the samples at levels that called for caution on the part of consumers to prevent health infarctions that might be associated with prolonged regular and large consumption of beef sausage roll products.