Heterocyclic amine content in restaurant-cooked hamburgers, steaks, ribs, and chicken

As part of a comprehensive survey of the heterocyclic amine content of foods, beef hamburgers, steaks, and pork ribs were purchased from restaurants, with cooking doneness specified. Samples were pooled by meat type, doneness, and cooking method and analyzed for heterocyclic amine content using HPLC. Results show detectable levels of heterocyclic amines in all samples, ranging from 0.5 ng/g PhIP from a pooled sample of ribs to 20 ng/g total of MeIQx and PhIP from a sample pooled of well-done charbroiled hamburgers. Grilled chicken samples from fast-food restaurant sandwiches or rotisserie-cooked chicken contained MeIQx and PhIP at combined levels of <2 ng/g. Compared to fast-food meat products from this and previous studies, restaurant products are similar to 10-fold higher in heterocyclic amine content. The amounts of heterocyclic amines measured in these restaurant foods show that samples prepared for laboratory studies are representative of commonly consumed restaurant samples.