Determination of potentially toxic compounds from Maillard reaction in baby cereal based foods

Technological processes applied to food can give rise to modifications in their composition. One of the most important modifications induced in food by heating is the Maillard reaction, which involves amino acids and reducing carbohydrates, and can also produce loss of nutritive value. Moreover, acrylamide and furanic compounds are formed in a variety of heat-treated commercial foods. They are known to be toxic and, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, “possibly carcinogenic to humans”. The aim of this research is to evaluate the loss nutritive value and the formation of acrylamide and furanic compounds in different baby cereal based foods. These products need to be processed to improve sensory qualities and starch digestibility. Because of that, all the samples were produced in industrial plant in the same technological conditions. The furosine values (indirect measure of lysine losses) ranged from 521 to 966 mg/100 g of protein; the sample produced with unconventional cereals (different from wheat) reported the higher furosine values. Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was also determined and used, together with furfural and glucosylisomaltol (GIM) levels, as markers of thermal damage. HMF values were in the range 0.5-143 μg/100 g, furfural values ranged from not detected to 3 μg/100 g and GIM was in the range 3-42 μg/100 g. In this study the furan content in the cereal infant food products was conducted using headspace sampling in combination with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HSGC/ MS). The furan content was relatively low, with average concentrations below 20 μg/kg. Finally, acrylamide content in the baby food products was analyzed by LC–ESI-QQQ-MS methods. The mean content of acrylamide in the baby foods ranged from 68 to 107 μg/kg depending on the food product, only the sample with rice flour showed an acrylamide content lower than LOQ. The findings of our analytical studies confirm that the same product category includes products with high and low content of potentially toxic compounds. For, while if it is true that furan content is relatively low, mitigative measures to avoid acrylamide in commercially baby foods should be a high priority for risk management.