Consumer exposure to furan from heat – processed food and kitchen air

Abstract

Levels of furan were determined in a range of foods before and after cooking, and also in the air of kitchens during cooking. Furan was measured in food using an established in-house validated method, and in air by collection in inert bags, transfer to carbon-based traps, and thermal desorption gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results confirm that coffee is the major dietary furan source for adults. High levels of furan were also measured in toasted bread. The project has shown that furan can be measured in the air of kitchens when food is cooked, that the levels vary with cooking technique and food product, and that emission profiles can be generated from certain cooking activities. Results were both low and variable for cooking activities of short duration. For lengthier cooking practices such as cooking in ovens and frying chipped potatoes the consistency of data was much improved. This suggests that sampling at single points within a room with static air is a source of considerable variability, whereas when the cooking is prolonged furan distribution becomes more uniform and its measurement more consistent. The data show that the highest degree of furan inhalation results from the addition of hot water to coffee in a cafetiere, the frying of chipped potatoes in an open chip pan, and baking some foods in an oven. Exhalation experiments indicate that furan is exhaled at elevated levels after drinking coffee, and that the levels do not return to the pre-consumption (background) level in breath in less than 10 minutes. There was insufficient data to make reliable estimates of intake from air samples, measured as the difference between inhaled and exhaled levels in the same breath.