Contamination of Fried Foods by 3-Monochloropropane-1,2-diol Fatty Acid Esters During Frying

In the present work, different foods including banana, potato, cassava, onion, garlic, polenta, rice balls and beef patties were investigated in relation to the possible endogenous formation of 3-monochloropropane-1,2-diol fatty acid esters (bound 3-MCPD) and carry-over of these contaminants from the oil due to fat uptake during frying. For that, the samples were fried in two different types of oil and bound 3-MCPD was determined by using an indirect method based on acid transesterification and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry analysis. The compounds were not detected in the fried foods when corn oil containing non-significant levels of bound 3-MCPD (<0.05 mg kg−1) was used, indicating no endogenous formation during frying. On the other hand, when the same foods were fried in palm oil containing 1.64 mg kg−1 of bound 3-MCPD, the mean concentrations ranged from 0.12 to 0.25 mg kg−1, indicating a clear carry-over of the contaminants. In this case, a good correlation was observed between the levels of the compounds in fried samples and water loss/fat uptake.