An examination of some foodstuffs for the presence of volatile nitrosamines

Abstract

Over 500 samples of foodstuffs, including meat, fish and dairy products, vegetables, fruit and soups have been examined for the presence of volatile nitrosamines. Cooked complete meals were studied in order to assess the possibility of interactions of the constituents which could result in nitrosamine formation. The extracts of foods were subjected to gas chromatography and the presence of nitrosamines confirmed using on‐line high resolution mass spectrometry. The most frequently occurring nitrosamines were N‐nitrosodimethylamine and N‐nitrosopyrrolidine which were present in many cooked bacon samples. N‐nitrosodimethylamine also occurred in some other meat products, but other nitrosamines were rarely found. N‐nitrosodimethylamine also occurred in fish and cheese, but neither this nitrosamine nor any other was found above the detection limit of 1 μg/kg in any of the other foods.