Is Ultra-High Temperature Processed Milk Safe in Terms of Heterocyclic Aromatic Amines?

Herein, the presence of heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) in 24 different commercial ultra-high temperature processed (UHT) milk types was investigated. The dry matter and pH values of the samples were also determined. The milk types showed significant differences (p < 0.01) regarding the dry matter, pH values, and individual HAAs and total HAAs. The milk sample dry matter and pH values were in the range of 8.56–13.92% and 6.66–6.91, respectively. The growing up milk samples had the highest dry matter and pH values. While no significant correlation between the total HAAs and dry matter was found, a negative correlation (p < 0.01) between the total HAAs and pH value was determined. Among the tested HAAs, five compounds, (IQx (up to 0.06 ng), IQ (up to 0.10 ng), MeIQx (up to 0.55 ng), MeIQ (up to 1.97 ng), and PhIP (up to 0.39 ng)) were quantified in the samples. The average total HAAs of the samples ranged from 0.13 to 0.67 ng; however, one milk sample (200 mL) contained between 10.10 and 53.35 ng total HAAs. Therefore, it was shown that protein fortification and lactose hydrolysis substantially increased the formation of HAAs in UHT milk.