Effect of sous-vide heat treatment on the phthalic acid esters content in meat

Anotace: The aim of the study was to monitor the migration of the phthalic acid esters dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) from packaging to meat wrapped in plastic when heat treated by sous-vide method. A heat treatment temperature of 80 °C was used for 4 and 8 hours with reheating at 80 °C for 1 hour. The average DBP and DEHP concentrations in meat ranged from 2.24 to 4.66 mg.kg-1 and 2.29 to 10.35 mg.kg-1 of the original sample, respectively. The average DBP and DEHP concentrations found in plastic packaging ranged from 3.06 to 6.37 µg.g-1 and 5.70 to 7.83 µg.g-1 of plastic, respectively. The average concentrations of DBP in water bath range from 16.25 to 23.38 µg.l-1, while the average concentrations of DEHP in water bath were determined between 0.24 and 1.82 µg.l-1. The above results were compared with the results measured at sous-vide treatment temperature of 70 °C for 4 hours, 8 hours, and with 1 hour of reheating. The average concentrations of DBP and DEHP in all meat samples exceeded the specific migration limits of both phthalates (0.3 mg.kg-1 for DBP and 1.5 mg.kg-1 for DEHP).