Variation in some heavy metals during the production of white cheese

Abstract

The lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury contents in samples of milk, curd and white cheese taken from a production line were investigated. The lead, cadmium and arsenic levels were found to be 12.07±0.06 ng/ml, 1.82±0.01 ng/ml and 0.64±0.03 ng/ml in milk, 219.85±0.46 ng/g, 19.58±0.34 ng/g and 8.80±0.41 ng/g in cheese curd, 250.63±0.53 ng/g, 21.19±0.16 ng/g and 10.85±0.34 ng/g in fresh white cheese preripened in brine salted to 16%, and 260.25±0.51 ng/g, 22.87±0.17 ng/g and 11.35±0.29 ng/g in ripened white cheese, respectively. No detectable levels of mercury were found in any of the samples. Variation in the heavy metal contents of samples taken during the production stages was significant (p <.05). The heavy metal concentrations of the samples were compared with those obtained by other investigators in different countries.

CHANGES IN Pb, Cd, Fe, Cu AND Zn LEVELS DURING THE PRODUCTION OF KAŞAR CHEESE

“…1994), 5–10 µg/kg (Coni et al. 1996) and 12 µg/kg (Demirozu‐Erdinc and Saldamli 2000). The reasons for the higher Pb content of milk used in dairy plant A were poor milk production practices and the use of unsuitable galvanized or tin‐coated metal containers for milking and transporting.…”

“…In addition, in dairy plant A, the inside walls of the cheese tanks were lined with sailcloth and cheesecloth disinfected with chlorine, and it is likely that the sailcloth played a significant role in the rapid increase in Pb content of the curds. The contamination of the sailcloth and cheesecloth with Pb probably resulted from a prolonged disinfecting step with chlorinated water (2% w/v) in a metal container because the chlorine could cause the corrosion of the metal container and solubilize some metals from the container as indicated by Demirozu‐Erdinc and Saldamli (2000). …”

“…It has a dark yellow color and shows similarity with the "Pasta Filata"-type cheeses such as mozzarella (Yetismeyen et al 1993). The variation in Pb, Cd and As during the production of Turkish white cheese has been investigated (Demirozu-Erdinc and Saldamli 2000). However, to the best of our knowledge, there is no report on the variation in heavy metals during Kaşar cheese production.…”

Atomic spectrometry update. Clinical and biological materials, foods and beverages

“…There was no Hg detected in any of the samples. 308 Concentrations of eight elements were measured in yoghurt from the main producers in Spain. 309 The same authors investigated the effects of adding different fruits on the mineral composition 310 and reported some large differences associated with wild berry, pineapple and peach.…”