Detection of carcinogenic glutamic acid pyrolysis products in worcestershire sauce by high-performance liquid chromatography

Commercially available Worcestershire sauce was analyzed for mutagenic and carcinogenic glutamic acid pyrolysis products using high-performance liquid chromatography. These carcinogenic heterocyclic amines were found to be present in all brands of Worcestershire sauce analyzed. The identity of the carcinogens was confirmed by spectrometric analyses and the SOS umu-test. The concentrations of 2-amino-6-methyldipyrido[l,2-a:3′,2′-d]imidazole (Glu-P-1) and 2-amino-dipyrido-[1,2-a:3′,2′-d]imidazole (Glu-P-2) in the Worcestershire sauce were 695 ± 329 pmol/liter (mean ± SD, n = 5) and 1,839 ± 1,321 pmol/liter (n = 5), respectively.